Url troubles!!

I'm having trouble getting my url straightened out but I"ve moved my blog from blogger to my own self hosted blog. Currently www.bluemoonmama.com points to my blogger site while http://bluemoonmama.com points to my new blog. So if you've managed to stumble in here, please redirect yourself over to my new site by clicking this link:


 BLUE MOON MAMA'S NEW HOME

Also if you link to my blog in your blogroll could you please redirect it to http://bluemoonmama.com without the www? Hopefully I'll get the url sorted out soon!!

Kitchen time!

I'm featuring my first guest post today! This is from Sarah At Primrose Schools and seems very appropriate considering we are fast approaching Thanksgiving, a time when families often spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
*Safe Creativity in the Kitchen with Kids*

Getting creative in the kitchen is a great joy in life, made even more enjoyable when you can cook with family. Invite your littler helpers into all of the cooking activities so that they can feel included and have fun- safely. Boiling water and hot burners can be dangerous, but if you set some ground rules, spending quality time in the kitchen together can be a lot of fun.
The Recipe for Safety:
1 part adult supervision
2 parts helpful children
A Pinch of rules
A Dash of fun
Mix together and serve at least weekly so that everyone can enjoy their time in the kitchen.
It doesn't matter what you're cooking – let the kids help. There are plenty of ways to let them as long as you know what they are capable of.
If there are little kids around, hand them some pots and pans. Let them make some drum music for you as you go about cooking. The sound that they make will tell you exactly where they are so that you don't have to worry and can go about your culinary creations.
The older kids can help with some of the basic preparation.
The easy stuff:
- Rolling dough
- Measuring flour, water, and oil
- Breaking eggs
- Counting slices of bread
- Topping off sprinkles
Once your child has mastered helping with some of the easier tasks, you can start to delegate some of the harder tasks for them so that they feel like they are helping even more. This will help you create a bond with your children and also help them learn how to cook.
The harder stuff:
- Mixing batter
- Filling muffin pans
- Pounding chicken
- Frosting cakes
The more your child helps, the more he or she will get a sense of accomplishment with the task. You just need to focus on the safety at all times. Keep handles on the burners facing inwards to avoid bumping. When you open the oven, make sure no hands get in the way of what's going in or coming out. If you're moving hot liquids around the kitchen, make sure everyone stays still while you transport the liquid.
Your children can become more responsible and more helpful when you introduce them to the kitchen at an early age. You can have them take over step by step of the recipe once they learn to read and by the time they have mastered all of the skills in the kitchen, you can hand the reigns over to them for them to create an entire recipe (with your supervision). This way you give them the ability to show off what they can do and they will appreciate the boost in self esteem.
There are plenty of cooking and baking supplies out in the market to make it easier for kids to participate in cooking. You might want to pick up a few smaller whisks and bowls so that they can use everything in a smaller scale so that it is easier to work on their motor skills before advancing to the full size version of something.
When the food is done, make sure your assistant gets first taste of everything. They should also help with the clean up so that they understand the full realm of responsibility. When it's time to cook again, see if they have any suggestions on what to make.

Submitted by Sarah Morris on behalf of Primrose Schools- with preschools across the country, give your little on the benefits of a Primrose education.

Lots of creativity going on here!

For the past few weeks I've been rather quiet here at my blog because I've been caught up in "real" life. Nora is a VERY active toddler and at 4 months old Wyatt is also trying to get mobile, rolling about on the floor & trying to climb out of his bouncy seat. They take alot of supervision! :).
Recently I've started letting Nora experiment with painting. We work on projects two or three times a week. She loves it!! And since I'm getting art supplies out for her I don't have any excuse not to dabble in them myself. I've started work on a few little projects. It's so much fun to dip my toes into the creative water. Up until now all art I've created has been digital. I've never had the nerve to play with paints before. We have a lot of bare walls in our new apartment & unfortunately limited finances leave me unable to splurge on buying the gorgeous art of all my bloggy friends, so maybe I can try my hand at making my own art. Here's a little canvas I started working on; my first art project since high school 20+ years ago:

Besides taking care of babies & dabbling in art projects I've also been mulling over changes in design & content for my blog. Here at Blue Moon Mama I want to start broadening out a bit, posting more parenting & homemaking content along with my daily life/art attempts/ general ramblings. So hopefully over the next few months you'll start seeing a few changes around here!

And to brighten your day, here's Nora creating some wearable art for herself:

And her finished art project:

Nora digging in dirt

Nora doing her favorite thing: riding HIBBIES (horses)!!

Nora & daddy going pumpkin picking

At the pumpkin patch with Wyatt

Wyatt cuteness!

My little man is growing by leaps & bounds. At 3 1/2 months he's as big as most 5 month olds and he's been rolling over on his own for a month now! He's growing up too fast. Here are some iPhone photos:

Need suggestions please

I'm looking for online art courses that start in November or December. My Mom's bday is coming up & I'd love to find an online course for the two of us to take together. She used to paint & draw alot but in the past few years has lost her creative spark & I want to help reignite it! 

Simple parenting tip: Buy oversized socks!

Wyatt likes to kick his feet A LOT and his sweet little baby socks come off every few minutes which is frustrating because he always has cold feet & has to have socks on. This morning he didn't have clean socks and all his footie pjs are also in the wash so out of desperation I grabbed a pair of Nora's socks and put them on. She wears a size 8 in baby shoes so these are some pretty BIG socks compared to his tiny feet but guess what? They are perfect!! Why did no one tell me about this before? The sock bands fit really well around his legs as you can see in the photo & he can't kick them off!! Another great thing is he won't outgrow these every month as he would the baby socks meant for his age group! So there is a little tip for new parents: buy BIG socks! Lol

Actually, its probably best to buy all your baby clothes oversized. With my first daughter Nora we were inexperienced new parents and always bought clothes according to her age. Newborn clothes when she was new born, 6 months clothes when she was 6 months etc. and it seemed as if we were buying clothes every time we turned around (because we were). I have 4 boxes of adorable barely worn baby girl outfits stuffed in a closet. Eventually she was growing so fast that she was wearing one to two sizes above her age group. Currently at 21 months she likes to wear size 4T clothes. She could wear 2T or 3T but she's hit an age were she likes things a bit loose, plus being oversized gives her room to grow with the clothes. I won't have to replace her favorite outfits every month. She's wearing a 5T Great Pumpkin tshirt in the picture to the right of her at Maymount Park last week and with the exception of having to roll the sleeves it's comfortably loose and perfect. Also,  the camouflage onsie in Wyatt's photo (I think it's ugly but an Aunt gave it to Wyatt & Nora picked it out for him to wear today) is also oversized. It's a 12 month outfit. So there you have it, my parenting tip of the month, Buy Big! ;-)

Embracing Autumn

Autumn is my favorite time of  year. I love the crisp cool winds. I love crunching colorful leaves under my feet. U love sweaters and hot cocoa and the smell of the earth as it prepares for winter. This weekend was our first taste of Fall weather with temperatures in the low 60's and a lovely briskness to the air. Such a welcome change from the horrible heat and humidity we've been dealing with since the beginning of April. To celebrate we went to Maymount Park and chased Nora through the grass all around the park. It was wonderful. Nora had such a wonderful time. Wyatt seemed to enjoy his stroller ride as well. I loved watching Nora's joy as she chased birds across the fields. Children are such a wonderful example of living each moment to the fullest, an example I'm trying hard to emulate. 

Harbor Salem, MA

I love taking photos of sunlight sparkling on water!

Ivy shrouded window

At House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA

Salem, Mass.

Nathaniel Hawthorn's birthplace I think, or his childhood home.

Blue hydrangea near gift shop in Salem,MA.

Salem, MA harbor

Nora & Daddy talking & watching ducks during our mini Massachusetts vacation last week.

I am....

...starting each day with spiritual inspiration. I need Grace in my life. It helps me feel centered.
...burning to start a long-held creative dream but afraid to make the leap. The dream needs a little collaboration to take flight and I'm not brave enough yet to reach out & ask for help.
...struggling to add a little exercise to my daily routine. My 39th bday has inspired me to try & make some life changes.
...focusing on improving my attitude & cultivating positive thinking. I an going to choose to be happy.
...realizing that all my big dreams & life goals have come true and feeling profoundly grateful for my life & my family, even on the less than perfect days :). 
         What about you? What are you up too right now?

Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 39 on Sept 15th and my husband surprised me with a 4 day trip up to Concord, Boston, & Salem Mass. Since my grandma bought me my first copy of Little Women at age 8 I've been a devoted fan of it's writer Louisa Mat Alcott. In my teens I discovered Ralph Waldo Emerson's wonderful Essays and Henry David thoreau's Walden and fell in love with them as well. When I discovered my 3 favorite American writers all lived in the same New England town I knew I someday HAD to visit it. I put Concord on my must-see-before-I-die list. Now, thanks to my husband that dream has come true and I've stood in the very rooms were my idols wrote their great works. I've dipped my toes in Walden Pond. I am a very happy woman. Best memories: holding hands with my husband while our babies slept between us at night & watching from the upstairs bedroom of the Alcott house as my wonderful husband played with my beautiful daughter in the garden. 

Here I am at Walden Pond:

Thank you Soraya!!

The dress was a gift from a very sweet friend. Nora loved it. After all, it's pink & has a doggie on it. Two of her favorite things.

A second life

I fell in love with this doll when I was 8 or 9. I can remember staring at her in the store (Wal-Mart I believe) and longing for her. I think I was getting a small allowance, maybe .50 cents a week, and it took awhile to save up for her but eventually she was mine. She was a GumDrop Doll. This was in the early 80s at the height of the Strawberry Shortcake frenzy & I think Gumdrop dolls were a sort of knock off, cheaper version. I didn't care. She was my favorite doll from the moment I brought her home and we had many adventures together, in my imagination anyway. When I finally put away dolls & toys in my very early teens  sweet Gumdrop wasn't shoved in a closet as the others were. I kept her on a shelf in my bedroom. She traveled with my from my parents home to all my other homes, always kept safe from harm on a shelf. With our most recent move my hubby somehow mixed Gumdrop in with Nora's toys where Nora discovered her a few days ago. I have to admit my first instinct was to put the doll away until Nora's much older & able to take care of toys better but seeing how happy Nora was as she played with Gumdrop I decided it was time to pass her on to my little girl. It's so wonderful to watch Nora play with something I once loved and played with. I hope they have many adventures together.

Peaceful moments

Our move across town from the house we were leasing to the new apartment is winding to a close. By Wednesday everything at the old house will be moved and the place will be spotless. September 1st it will no longer be ours. I'm thrilled! I'm so looking forward to having more time together as a family, especially for my husband. He'll no longer have to spend all his free time on yard & home maintenance. I'm looking forward to creating  lots more peaceful moments for my family, like the one I caught in this photo of Nora drawing a picture with Daddy which I took on our new patio a few days ago. I feel like we've taken control of our life back. Downsizing to a smaller more modern apartment has been a wonderful thing. So freeing. 

My little angels

Finding inspiration in a Garden

Recently we went to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens & renewed our membership. They have a great little children's garden section that has a large sand box and a water play area. Nora was in heaven!!I had a wonderful time as well taking photographs. I played around with my iPhone using various aps to take some shots and I found myself buzzing with excitement. I'd started to forget how much I love playing around with photos. Snapping pictures at the garden reignited my love & I began thinking of all the little projects and creative ideas that have been at the back of my mind since starting to have my babies over 2 years ago. I've been so immersed in new mommyhood that I've forgotten or ignored other important parts of myself, especially my creativity. I think I need to work on finding myself beyond just the Mommy side. 

Chincoteague

My sister in law came for a visit and we decided to spend one of the days visiting Chincoteague Island, made famous by the children's book Misty of Chincoteague which I read a million times as a kid. I loved being able to share this with my little ones. Nora had her very first pony ride on a Chincoteague pony! Her daddy (an avid horseman) swears she's a natural rider even at a year and a half. I know she absolutely loved the horses. I've never seen her so gleeful as she was petting the ponies & watching the horse show. It's a memory I will cherish.

A future artist