I Give Thanks for

L-R: Marina, Luc, Stella, Candice

My lovely family!
Marina Ballerina, thanks for the dance you put on for everyone tonight
Stella the newly minted toddler: she's walking everywhere now at 10 months old!
Luc and the walks he takes with the girls every night
the cats that I find sleeping on book shelves, in baskets, and countertops
my dogs that love a good run
my chickens who give us so many eggs
Seeing horses in our field, sweet Caspian and Joey
PJ for claiming his spot on my lap every evening
winter vegetables in my garden
grandmas and grandpas who love their grandkids like their own babes
comedy- thanks Colbert and Stewart, lol
home births, babies, midwives, women in general, and mommies (what a path it has been)!
daddies, dada Luc who can fix a computer with one hand and hold baby Stella in the other
Great Grandpa Vernon who baby Stella loves best, the oldest and youngest int he family!
All my wonderful, supportive, interesting friends: you make Whidbey the place I LOVE
computers, computers, computers, to the future
my digital camera, I sure love how easy it is to store pictures and post them
tea: green, red, black, yellow
coffee and all of its forms: capps lattes shots
food recipes & food bloggers
my running shoes
my running trails
living on an island
poetry
yoga
love
fun
:-)
xo

Thanksgiving might be . . .

one of the better holidays if you don't have to host the dinner. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mad chaotic cooking with family around, I'd just rather focus on one or two dishes and sit around while the host and his or her helpers rush around. Peace amid chaos, that'll be me. I hope. For Thanksgiving we'll be going to my parent's place. Marina and I already made two chocolate cheesecakes, and the morning of I will prepare the Cauliflower and Broccoli Flan with Spinach Bechamel. I like a good excuse to try a new recipe and a "cooking" holiday offers just that. There were plenty of interesting recipes on epicurious.com. I began with the idea of a broccoli casserole and it sort of morphed into this Italian dish. There is also something about the overwhelming focus on food that inspires exercise . . . so I plan to fit a run into my schedule early in the morning. Happy Obsessive Eating Day, and hopefully you all will get some thanks-giving in while you're stuffing your faces!

Classes for Kids on South Whidbey Island: Dance, Gymnastics, Soccer, Music, Mothers Circle, all for babies to preschool

There are many classes available for children on South Whidbey island. I have created a list below that you can explore more on the web by clicking on the title. They are classes that my children take, have taken, or are recommended by friends. Enjoy, and email me if you have some to add!

Again: Click on the title to link to the class' home page

Music Together with Kat Fritz: music, live singing, guitar, dancing, props (instruments, colorful scarfs). Parent and child involvement. Great for families with multiple kids as the class is enjoyed by young babies and older toddlers. Ages 0-4, 45 minutes once a week. Located at the Ken's Korner Shopping Mall in Clinton, WA. Preregistration with SW Park and Rec at 221-5484

Dancing Colors creative dance for children with Emily Day 3-4 years old. Dance using scarves, hats, masks, instruments, cooprabands, bodysox and more. The children learn to put on a performance, to express themselves through dance and movement. Emily is wonderful with the children inspires them to work with each other while dancing. Marina has been taking this class for 1 1/2 years and loves it. The children put on a fun performance in December and June. Duration 1 hour once a week. Call 360-221-5989. Located at Dragon House/ Dancing Colors Studio, 301 6th St. PO Box 61, Langley, WA 98260-0061

Island Dance: Creative Dance for Preschoolers ages 3-4 Island Dance is a complete dance studio offering a variety of classes for all ages. The Creative dance class is for the youngest dancers and is taught by Island Dance owner Charlene Brown. This class is about movement and discovery. Children are given themes that encourage them to discover different ways of moving. Creative Dance promotes coordination of thought, feeling and action. This class helps to develop musicality, sense of rhythm, and imagination. Children put on a performance in June. class is 1 hour once a week. Contact: 11042 State Route 520, Suite 220 Ken's Korner Mall, Clinton, WA 98236 360-341-1282

Island Dance Gymnastics: Tiny Tigers (18mons-36mons) and Wild Tigers (3-4 years). Very beginning gymnastics moves and equipment are introduced to kids in these classes. Class includes time on a high and low balance beam and the uneven bars. Kids have a lot of fun in the padded gymnastics room.

Whidbey Children's Theater: Little Players ages 3-5. Children learn to act out stories and use their imagination in fun and playful ways with the guidance of Martha Murphy. The Children's Theater also offers classes for older children. Checkout their calendar for fun plays for children and adults all year long.

Pre-Soccer at Community Park on Maxwelton Road (4-5 year old). Children learn basic soccer skills while having fun and moving their bodies. There is also a class for 2 1/2 -3 year old with parental involvement.

Swimming Lessons at Island Athletic Club
located in Freeland, the Athletic Club offers classes for 3 months old and up. From 3 months to 3 years there is a group class that brings fun into swimming and incorporates playful activities like singing with practical swim techniques like reaching and pulling, diving for rings, jumping off the side of the pool, swimming underwater, and kick boarding. This class was wonderful for those first few years when a fun introduction to water can last a lifetime. I loved learning how to help my daughter become comfortable dunking her whole body under the water (at 8 months old!).

Mother's Circle in Langley (at Pregnancy Aid): There is a great group for new moms that meets from 10-12 every Tuesday morning. Every other week there is a topic discussed where members of the community are scheduled to talk about baby related topics. On the other weeks you can come by for tea and snacks and talk with other moms. This is a great place to meet other new moms. You can also sift through all the baby and kid clothes and equipment offered. You can donate your used baby or kid gear to other moms by dropping it off on Tuesdays from 12-4 PM. Located at 816 Camano Ave. Langley, WA 98260. Call at 360-221-4767 for more information.

How to make a sand castle, or What the heck is there to do on Whidbey Island?!? Double Bluff Beach, Whidbey Island, WA

The first rule of sand castle making may very well be choose a good location without any imminent dangers. This could mean avoiding the tide (at least while you can!), foot traffic, dog poopers (yes, they do like certain kids of spots to do their deed), and as pictured below, be sure to protect your castle from intruders, especially those that are still crawling, as they are more likely to cause quick and irreparable damage than their walking counterparts. Distraction worked in the below pictured case.

DISCLAIMER: Knowing full well that there are many ways to make acceptable and less acceptable sand castles, we will admit that below described castle making is only one method, and may or may not suit your sand castle needs. We tend to collect various materials from the beach to construct our castles, rather than to extensively manipulate the sand. In this case, we made a sand "mountain" and added various beach pieces and parts that we collected to the castle.

Above: Marina uses a piece of wood to carve a road into the base of the sand castle. This kind of technical drafting may require a smaller size stick as pictured above.

Above: We collected dried beach flowers and hung small dandelions on them to create the appearance of a flowering tree. These "trees" were "planted" around the castle grounds

Shells & rocks are placed ornamentally into the castle mountain. This seems to serve an artistic need or perhaps it helps hold the castle together...

Above: pieces of flat wood make the driveway, or main entrance to the castle

Above: castle in progress

Above: carving the sand to make the main driveway, this may have been the most time consuming task on this day at the beach.

Above: Placing wood for the main drive

Above: having fun, the most important part of the castle process, and really the only rule of castle building

Above: a bucket-formed tower, later to become a castle mountain as the sand dried and crumbled into a hill of sorts

Good materials for the castle can be: wood, unusual driftwood, painted driftwood/wood, any trash found on beach (this one is fun), rocks, seaweed, thoughtfully chosen plant life (be mindful of what/how much you are picking!), flowers, anything small and interesting that may or may not serve a purpose in your castle, anything artsy, OK, I think you get the point...and of course sand, sand, sand, sand, and kids! Even little sand castle destroyers. . .

Like this one :)

Mellow Chili Soup with vegetables, wild rice, beans and turkey

Marina loved this hearty fall soup, and so did we! If you like your chili spicy, add some cayenne powder (very warming this time of the year, or chili powder) Here is what I used, cooked in a 5 quart soup pan:

• 4 quarts of chicken stock (make your own for best results by cooking used whole chicken bones in 4-5 quarts of water for 3+ hours with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and celery, carrots)

• 1 pound ground turkey, formed in to small balls

• 2- 12 oz can of black beans

• 2 cups dry (soak for 8 hours/overnight) black eyed peas

• 1-32 oz can of fire-roasted chopped tomatoes

• 2 cups wild rice

• 1- 12 oz can of corn (or 3 -4 fresh ears of corn, cut from cob)

• 5 sticks of celery, chopped

• 4 carrots, chopped

• 1 large onion chopped

• 5 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press

• sprigs of rosemary, thyme, 2 bay leaves

• salt to taste

• chili powder (spicy) or cayenne (optional) spice to taste, a little goes a long way

• 3 TBS soy sauce

Begin by making your chicken soup stock and cooking the chicken, 4 quarts of water, 1 tsp salt and sprigs of rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves for 2 hours at a gentle boil/simmer with the pan lid on. Cut out this step if you already have chicken stock.
After two hours of cooking the chicken at a gentle boil, add the previously soaked black eyed peas. After an hour (black eyed peas should be soft) strain out the bones and add the 2 cups wild rice and 32 oz canned tomatoes. Cook for another 1/2 hour and add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, soy sauce, chili powder or cayenne (optional) and turkey (formed into balls). Cook for another 1/2 hour and add the canned black beans and the canned corn.

Serve with a baguette or a crusty bread. Also good with a green salad.

Autumn pictures of all of us

Stella practicing walking at UBCC, a fav place to get lunch and coffee

Music Together for Toddlers and Babies with Kat Fritz

http://www.musictogetherwhidbey.com/ (Whidbey Island Class Info)
http://www.musictogether.com/ (Information on the philosophy, research, development, classes around the US)

"All children are musical" is the idea behind the Music Together classes on Whidbey Island. And children learn best in their early development when they are with those adults who are closest to them: parents, grandparents, and other caregivers. So parents attend and take part in the entire class, singing, dancing, and playing. . . and children quickly join in as they watch mom and dad having so much fun!

OUR FAMILY LOVES THIS CLASS!

Above: All the instruments are out to play

Play scarves, the kids' favorite!

Peek-a-boo!

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout, down came the rain . . . .

Here is the beehive (blanket) but where are the bees? Hidden away where nobody sees . . . watch and you'll see them come out of the hive, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 . . . buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (everyone runs out from under the blanket). Back in the beehive (under the blanket) . . . and AGAIN!

The beehive, another kid favorite (above)

Above: the red sticks instrument

We have been going to a wonderful class for toddler and babies for 2 years now! It is "Music Together", a class that helps children and parents unite in the celebration, singing and playing of music. Each week we meet for 45 minutes, form a circle and begin with a hello song, "Hello everybody, so glad to see you! Hello everybody, we're so glad to see you! Hello to Marina, so glad to see you, hello to Stella so glad to see you . . . " Until every child is greeted in verse. The class then goes through a range of songs in the current CD which has a certain musical focus like "bongos", "sticks", "drums" and so on.

There are certain songs where different instruments or props are used including colorful play scarves, egg shaped shakers/rattles, sticks, and one big box of instruments of all kinds for a chaotic and playful song. Children and adults love the colorful scarves that they use to dance to the music or play peek-a-boo. The instruments provide a fun time for children and adults to experiment using them in unusual and fun ways. Kat uses many of the songs to have parents and kids get up and dance around or act out parts of the song.

I love how Kat connects with the children, relates to them and inspires their creativity and musical expression. When my first daughter, Marina, was about 1 year old she had so much trouble letting go of the instruments that she would cry for a long time whenever it was time to put something away. Kat let her keep them as long as she wanted and within weeks she was returning them happily when the songs were over. It is this kind of safe environment that has fostered her love of music and dancing. At 3, she now takes 2 dance classes and theater class in addition to her music together class. And she looks forward to each one! I often observe her singing out in public without a care in the world. I believe this is a result of several years of music together classes. She is comfortable expressing herself musically in front of adults and kids.

So if you have kids ages 0-5, try out the Music Together class by Kat Fritz! And checkout her website: http://www.musictogetherwhidbey.com/index.htm

Above: Post Music Class at Kiichli's Bagel's (right next door), yummm

Our Historic Presidential Election: from Whidbey Island Yayyyyyyyyyy Yayyyyyy!!!

FOR THE CHILDREN OF TODAY . . .

Who's ahead? Who's winning?

BARACK OBAMA!!

I am not usually political here, but, here goes . . .
Whidbey Island residents are rather progressive and out spoken when it comes to politics. So it was fun to attend the Democratic Election Night gathering at the Bayview Corner. And I am still about bursting with joy and excitement at Barack Obama's win this November 4th! It is so symbolic of where our country wants to go and how we see ourselves that we have elected Obama. Most of all I am pleased that other countries will see our electing Barack Obama as a diplomatic and thoughtful choice, hey everyone: "We want to communicate clearly and consciously with other nations to make the world a positive, beautiful, and safe place!" Well, there is a lot of optimism in the air, at least around me, and I hope we can all look past some of our country's current difficulties to see what we want financially, spiritually, collectively, and individually in order to focus our powers of creating on the things we DO want! What is your VISION for the future, and more importantly, what is your vision for the present?

"Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the vision." --Vince Lombardi, US Football coach (1913-1970)

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." --Winston Churchill

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them." --George Bernard Shaw

"Some men see things as they are and say why - I dream things that never were and say why not."--George Bernard Shaw

Hot Stone Massage on Whidbey Island at Greenhouse Massage Studio

I went rock hunting last Monday to add to my growing collection of stones to use for massage. I just attended a workshop in Port Townsend for "Hot Stone Massage" by Christine Schoper. It was very inspiring. This particular way of massaging the body allows the client to settle into a deep relaxation. I can use the stones to warm or cool the body by placing them on various points. I can also use the stones with oil and massage as I would with my hands. It is quite an amazing feeling to recieve a hot stone massage. I am definately going to incorporate hot stones into my practice, along with Chinese and Japanese massage modalities, intuitive, and energy-based bodywork.

Some of the many stones I got to choose from at Fort Casey State Park

Stella (10mons) and Marina (3.5 yrs) enjoyed scouting for rocks too. Marina found the largest rocks of all of us :)

The deer love the big field at the park and we found some really friendly ones: two mamas, each with one big baby deer. Marina walked up pretty close to them before they decided that they were done checking us out.

And more stones! There were so many!