My third-grade son and I came up with a game that was a lot of fun and valuable math practice and physical exercise for him, while being very easy for me and using only a few basic supplies that were easy to set up and clean up. This is a perfect activity for families in … Continue reading GAME SHOW!! with math practice
Top 10 Articles Earthlings Read in 2013
Just like 2012, most of my most-read articles in 2013 were classics published before 2013. Well, after all, this isn't really a blog; it's a free ebook to which I keep adding chapters, so the old stuff is still relevant. Here, just in case you missed them, are the 10 articles added in 2013 that … Continue reading Top 10 Articles Earthlings Read in 2013
Wearing a stretchy tummy band instead of maternity pants: A review
Soon after my first pregnancy, it became fashionable to wear a top over another top that is longer and sticks out at the bottom. Soon after that, I heard about a garment called the Bella Band that is simply a wide band of stretchy fabric worn around the abdominal area, such that it looks like … Continue reading Wearing a stretchy tummy band instead of maternity pants: A review
Baked Fish with Clementines
Pep up white fish or salmon, using citrus fruit that are getting kind of old for fresh eating but aren't actually moldy or vinegary-smelling.
Pocket: A Handy Tool for Web Browsing
This is a guest post by Ben Stallings (brother of ‘Becca) , who is a permaculture gardener, home energy efficiency auditor, and owner of a curbside recycling business in Kansas. I got an email a few days ago informing me that I'm in the top 5% of users of a service called Pocket -- I've used … Continue reading Pocket: A Handy Tool for Web Browsing
A Positive Experience at the Post Office
The United States Postal Service has had a rough time in recent years. "Snail mail" just seems so slow, now that we can do a lot of things online. FedEx and UPS have made their services more convenient to use, so a lot of people no longer choose the post office as their method of … Continue reading A Positive Experience at the Post Office
Planning, Parenting, and Perfection
Welcome to the December 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: The More Things Change . . . This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and wisdom about life changes. *** As a teenager, I went … Continue reading Planning, Parenting, and Perfection
Advent Prayer Tip
The four weeks before Christmas make up the contemplative season of Advent, in which Christians are supposed to prepare our hearts to welcome the newborn Prince of Peace. The four weeks before Christmas are a time of frenzied shopping, cooking, housecleaning or travel-planning, and festive-event-attending for most people. There are various ways to calm the … Continue reading Advent Prayer Tip
Easy Fresh Apple Yogurt
I'm finally beginning to feel a lot better and get back into being able to think about food! I've actually cooked several meals from scratch, without collapsing, in the last couple of weeks. One of the oddities of this pregnancy is that I'm sometimes having a hard time with raw apples: Either they give me … Continue reading Easy Fresh Apple Yogurt
Use those last drops of cooking oil!
One of the annoying things about recycling food containers is that you're supposed to get them relatively clean and rinsed-out before you put them in the recycling bin. This is particularly difficult with cooking oil because it clings to the inside of the bottle, and it doesn't mix with water to rinse out, and if … Continue reading Use those last drops of cooking oil!
Tips for Surviving Pregnancy Nausea
I am almost 14 weeks pregnant, due in early May 2014! I've been struggling with nausea since the 5th week, but it's finally, gradually beginning to abate. Now that I've gotten through this phase of pregnancy two-and-a-half times (my second pregnancy died at 7 weeks; the only good thing about that was ending the queasiness!) … Continue reading Tips for Surviving Pregnancy Nausea
A Laundry Line-Drying System that Will Work for YOU!
Have you been wishing you could save money, conserve resources, and make your clothes last longer by line-drying your laundry instead of machine-drying it--but you just can't figure out how to fit a clothesline into your home configuration and weekly routine? I am here to help! My new guest post at Live Renewed gives you … Continue reading A Laundry Line-Drying System that Will Work for YOU!
Help Save the Animals!
My eight-year-old Nicholas created this picture that he wants you to share everywhere and put in a place where you will see it often. He wants you to think, every time you see it, about what you can do to help animals of all kinds to be safe in this world we share. How can … Continue reading Help Save the Animals!
Ben’s Hot Chocolate
Autumn is here, and the hot chocolate season is beginning! This is a guest post by Ben Stallings (brother of 'Becca) , who is a permaculture gardener, home energy efficiency auditor, and owner of a curbside recycling business in Kansas and also happens to have a scrumptious hot chocolate recipe. For most of my life, … Continue reading Ben’s Hot Chocolate
Why my kid never believed in Santa Claus
He never believed in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy, either. There are three important reasons why Daniel and I decided, before Nicholas was born, that we were not going to pretend that any of these characters were real. The first is that we didn't like the idea of lying to our child. We … Continue reading Why my kid never believed in Santa Claus
Answering a child’s questions on human origins
A while back, another mother asked my advice: Tonight my five year old asked me, "Where did the first people come from?" "Well," I replied, "Different people believe different things. Scientists think that humans evolved from gorillas." "What is evolved?" "That’s when things change from one thing to another, like a caterpillar to a butterfly. … Continue reading Answering a child’s questions on human origins
Gradually Expanding Range for a Child Walking Alone
Welcome to the September 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Staying Safe This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and tips about protecting our families. Please read to the end to find a list of … Continue reading Gradually Expanding Range for a Child Walking Alone
No-Bake Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie for Summer
This is not so much a recipe as an example of how to work with the food, and the weather, that you happen to have. Last weekend was very hot and humid, and we had some ingredients that needed to be used, including just two potatoes from our farm share--not enough to make a baked … Continue reading No-Bake Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie for Summer
An Abundance of Apples
Here's what we did when we saw a bunch of ripe apples dropping into a neglected parking lot near our home.
Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (summer)
A pesco-vegetarian is someone who eats no meat except fish. That’s what we do when we’re at home and most of the time when we eat in other places. Here’s what we ate for dinner for four weeks in July and August. Normally I plan our menu up to a week in advance and do … Continue reading Four Weeks of Pesco-Vegetarian Dinners (summer)
The Earthling's Handbook 