Our Special Place
July 1, 2009 by emily · 1 Comment
Travel on this road for miles and miles into the hills and mountains until the road ends.
This is where we stop to get ready for “exploring” as we call it.
Are you ready?
We listen to the animals hidden in here:
Stop and listen the sounds of this:
And when this happens…
…we dance around in it for a bit! (Unfortunately, Mom didn’t get the best picture of us dancing.)
Then we run to the car to eat our “exploring” treat:
What could be better than that?
Don’t forget to spend time together in nature today!
I will give a huge high-five to anyone who can guess the correct location of our “Secret Spot.” I want to see if it’s really all that secret!
Where is your family’s special spot in nature?
Art Days in Salt Lake & Provo
June 15, 2009 by emily · Leave a Comment
The girls and I had some fun events planned to do the next two Fridays and I decided to just turn them into “Art Days” and invite all of you to come along!!
SALT LAKE ART DAYS
Friday, June 19th at 4pm The Gateway’s Chalk Art Festival
(I will be getting dinner there if anyone wants to come with!)
PROVO ART DAYS
Friday June 26th at 10am at the BYU Museum of Art to see the Walter Wick Exhibition.
PLEASE EMAIL ME FOR A MORE SPECIFIC MEETING PLACE AT inevergrewup@gmail.com or just use the Contact Form Page.
Can’t decide which one to go to? Well…then come to both!
Sarah Snow’s Fresh Living
June 3, 2009 by emily · 1 Comment
When we were on vacation a few weeks ago I picked up Sara Snow’s Fresh Living and read it in one day. It felt good to sit down and really dive into a book! I guess I will have to just go on another vacation if I ever want to finish a book again.
I learned a tremendous amount in this book, had many “ah ha!” moments and patted myself on the back a couple times.
For instance, Sara writes a lot about nurseries (maybe she was baby hungry while writing this book; now she would have the cutest baby!) and how to make sure they don’t have harmful chemicals. She writes about how important it is to watch what chemicals we put into, rub on, put around our new babies and that their bodies are so tiny and fragile you need to be even more aware and careful of everything.
For a healthy environment, do any redecorating, furnishing, and cleaning at least one month before you bring your baby home. If that’s impossible, let your baby sleep in a bassinet in your room while the new furnishings for her room off-gas elsewhere.
With baby #1 I painted her room right before she was born and gave the room a scrub down with an array of chemicals. Thank goodness she slept with me instead of in her room at first! And with baby #2 I knew better. She goes into even more detail about popular baby products, from baby wipes to baby powder.
The importance of factoring in the kids when deciding to go organic or not reaffirmed my decision. Sara puts it in such a great way:
All of this becomes particularly important when you recognize that kids eat, per pound of body weight, more food than adults every day. Plus their variety is limited. So when a child eats a food that contains residues, the dose they receive is much higher than the dose you or I might get from the same food. Couple that with the fact that children’s bodies don’t have the ability to metabolize chemicals as quickly or as completely as adults do, so the chemicals remain in kids longer, posing greater risks.
Sara comes off in such a caring, soft, non-judgemental teacher in this book. Her personal experiences and the way she shares how she grew up are so interesting and educational. I cannot wait till she writes another book. This is definitely one you need to check out!
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A Perfect Book for Nature Days: “Gus is a Tree”
May 6, 2009 by emily · 1 Comment
Sometimes people email me asking how they can teach their children to relax in nature when they don’t really get it themselves. I want you all to check out this book because it is the perfect example and explains it in such an amazing way.
Gus is a Tree by Claire Babin; illustrated by Olivier Tallec
Gus is a Tree is about a boy who, while playing with other children, falls asleep beneath a tree and then dreams of experiencing life as a tree. Gus shares the forest with other trees including birches, oak and beeches. He sees an autumn sunset and a wild boar family search for food. Night falls and he senses other creatures–owls, bats, even a dormouse that lives in a knot in another tree. He experiences a refreshing fall of rain and feels squirrels scamper up and down his bark. Then he is awakened by his friends who tell him it is time to go inside from the rain.
.
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It reminded me a lot of Abby today at Nature Days. She had fun with the other children but after a while I noticed her playing under the trees by herself. I could tell how calm she felt, saw her love for nature and watched as it made her face light up.
This week I have been talking and thinking a lot about the most beautiful place I have been: the Maine seacoast. I remember walking along the coastline for hours–the smells, sights, feel of the air, noises and how I felt inside. Complete bliss. I need to book tickets to Maine now for us all to recharge!
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