D is for DRUMS!

D is for DRUMS!
Originally uploaded by Bret, Virginia, Henry, and Toby

Henry rocks. It's just that simple.

Soliciting advice

Seriously, I am very much requesting replies here.

This summer we went strawberry and blueberry picking, and kind of went over the top. We have a TON of frozen berries, and I need suggestions for how to use them. Oh, and how exactly to do things, like make a blueberry pie using frozen berries without making soup.

For the record, I did wash all berries before freezing, and the strawberries are cut into quarters and cored (or whatever you call getting out the stem and white bit in the middle). I did NOT lay all berries out on a sheet and freeze and THEN bag - sue me. The blueberries are in 4 cup bags (yes, the amount for a pie, this was purposeful) and the strawberries are not really measured, mainly in gallon bags.

Bring it. I need some room in our freezer. It is not large, and this berry situation is a little nutty. At the same time, I plan to keep some for those long, lean months before the next berry season is upon us, but I want these recipes now so I can plan ahead.

Bring it.

Love.

I like Paul Krugman.

Not just because my husband works for a local government either.

Read this, I say.

Bikes and More.

Recently, we got this amazing bike trailer. Of course, because I don't have a bike I care to ride (meaning, one that fits and has not been sitting unused for more than a year in the elements) it is a really amazing stroller for the moment, but we're working on it.

I am in process of deciding what bike to get. I have my eye on a couple of lovelies: this Felt Cafe Deluxe 8, and this Electra Euro 8D. The Electra won't be available for a couple of months, which is less than fantastic, but it's niiiiice. The Felt is on it's way to a local bike shop so I can test it, and will be here in about a week. I could also build an Electra bike similar to the Euro with a more basic Electra frame that is in stock at another local shop, and throw on fenders and a rack. Or I could go with something entirely different, like a lovely Raliegh step through!

Oh decisions.

One easy decision was picking out helmets for the boys' noggins. How cute are these? One in Henry size and one in Toby size are on the way here now...

Our life in videos for the past few weeks...

Catching up is hard. We've been out of touch for a while, I know. We're on it. Or getting on it. Enjoy the movies!



















You can alsways see more on our YouTube page, which can be found here:
Hamstocks on YouTube

My life these days...

Toby, abstract
Originally uploaded by Bret, Virginia, Henry, and Toby

A blur, but very cool. And filled with blurry children, in many colors. I'll be back soon, I have things to say, promise. Love.

Even baby boys.

I'm not sure if it's the covers, or the location of the shelf-space in which they reside, but my kids seem to have a deep love for bell hooks. Here is Toby, in his favorite reading chair, proving that feminism really is for everybody.



(This doesn't mean that anyone can label her or himself a feminist spouting of whatever they want - Mrs. Palin, ahem, I am casting a sideways glance at you - but it does mean that yes, feminism really is for everybody. Or that it ought to be.)

Operation Psychotic Potty Training Bootcamp to commence in three days...

It's all planned. Bret is taking Toby to Tampa for the day (overnight?) and Henry and I are getting down to the business of potty training in serious form. I'm terrified, both of the exhaustion we will both be feeling (the plan involves nothing but potty talk and lots of running around and practicing running to the potty) and the emotional drain nonstop potty talk will have on my psyche.

Aside: if potty talk is TMI, deal. Skip it. Move on. The title should have tipped you off, really really.

I'm hoping it is the magic bullet. Henry does not fear the potty, and is happy to pee on whatever big or small toilet is available, just not on his own, and definitely not to the exclusion of peeing in a diaper. Poop, well, we just can't even go there yet.

I'm done with having two kids in diapers. Done. I spend hours (OK, sometimes it's not just me - other caregivers are involved too) every day getting way too intimate with bodily functions, especially on the wonderful days when both boys poo like four times.

I'm fully going back to a controversial book written in the seventies for this one. I need to get supplies (anyone know where to get a doll that pees when you give it water?) and make a plan and get snacks and treats and drinks. Oh, and spend the next few days depriving Henry of yummy snacks and drinks to make them tasty.

In addition, we have stuff to DO this weekend, so this really better work in the day they promise. I'm pessimistic. This is not the best way to go into the experiment, so I'm also working on getting myself pumped up. If anyone cates to offer a cash prize as motivation for mama, feel free to make an offer. Like a small chd, I respond positively to rewards.

I'll update, if I'm not too traumatized at the end if the whole thing.

Mama and the boys

Mama and the boys
Originally uploaded by Bret, Virginia, Henry, and Toby

Yup, that's us.

Have you checked us out lately?

I tend to update on the boys over here:
The Hamstock Family

Occasionally, these silly little updates take over my world, explaining the dearth of coherent, adult thoughts recorded here. One day, you'll be sick of my adult ramblings, I swear.

In the meanwhile, enjoy my adorable kids.

Testing, testing, 1-2-3, testing

I'm sending this put from the iPhone, which is kind of exciting. This might mean more posts, but I can't promise anything. Just try it and see...

Seriously, hands are full.

I wish I could formulate something of value. I can't, both because I am stretched obscenely thin and because both boys are vying for attention even now. But I did get that iPhone, so here is some of that video I can shoot and post on the fly... this is great fun. But back to the mama work I do...

Mother's Day

This year, I am trying to find peace and joy in Mother' Day. So instead of trying to get all intellectual or confessional this weekend, I will just paste. Because mamas are connected, because I'm a mama who loves peace, and because I love other mamas who love peace.

Mother's Day Proclamation, 1870, by Julia Ward Howe

Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

And also, Marylynn, I miss you so much.

Open Letter to the Man in a Speedo Doing Yoga in the Sauna at the Gym

Dear Man in a Speedo Doing Yoga at the Gym,

I'm not sure what you were thinking. Let's break it down:

1. There is a HUGE sign on the sauna door that says "This space is for relaxation, not exercise."

2. You are older, quite flabby, and wearing only a Speedo that might have fit you properly thirty pounds ago.

3. The moves you were doing were giving you a wedgie (forward folds), or exposing way too much of your package (backbends).

4. The twists, while relaxing I am sure, threw your sweat all over everyone sitting within three feet of your little space in the front. Where we could not avoid looking at you.

Now, I'm not sure if you were actually just doing your thing or if you were trying to impress people with your flexibility, but I for one was not impressed. I was completely creeped out.

Please do it in the steam room next time. At least there no one can see anything.

Sincerely (and with a shudder),
Virginia

Spring is here. Seriously here.

I shot this video about a month ago. You really need to watch it in HD to see how amazing it was:

The sky was full of Sandhill Cranes for a day and a half. I wish you could hear and see them better, it was amazing. Normally you see a few in the sky, but on this day, the sky was seething. They were headed northwest, off toward the panhandle, so I began to hope that the thaw was on once and for all.

Since all those cranes headed northwest that day, we've had no frost, even though we've had to wear sweaters a few days. I didn't plant anything until a bit after I saw these birds in the sky, but I have not had to run outside with the sheets or fret about tender new shoots. Spring is here, and it is grand.

I'm nosy.

Just an FYI. I love that one can figure out just about anything with the help of Google and an Internet connection. Honestly, how on earth did nosy nellies like me get by in previous decades?

I also love that the very same resources can teach me the meaning of slang, help learn obscure movie and music references, and generally keep me from coming off as unhip most of the time. Even though I totally am.

Internet, I raise my Guinness to you today, just because you are awesome.

No, I'm hip because I know people with style.

I may not look stylish 95% of the time, but I do know people who are incredibly fashionable. I do know when things are stylish and should have a Fashion Police badge, I just can't seem to get it together. An excellent example of "Do as I say not as I do."

My sister-in-law Meredith looks good all the time, and she is also crafty and funny. Best part, she writes The Lovely Owl, and shares her good taste and good humor with everyone.

Get yourself there quick, she is doing a fun give away, but you have to read this post before FRIDAY (that's tomorrow, so scoot!).

Am I not hip since I still want a Kindle? Oh well.

So the iPad has been unveiled. There are commercials and everything. It's pretty cool, but I still think I really want a Kindle.

I suppose that the sexy touchscreen would be fun, and having what is essentially a little laptop would be awesome. The color screen is indeed pretty. But no. I really REALLY want the Kindle.

I have been reading a lot lately. Ok, "a lot" for me given the babes to constantly cuddle. I've also started cleaning out my bookcases, and have discovered that I really don't need to hang on to so many of the paperbacks I have enjoyed over time. Sure, I might read something again someday, but I'm not referencing things, generally not passing them along to others, and not finding better storage. I tend to read, shelf, and eventually donate a LOT of paper.

The concept of digital books, therefore, fits right on into my world beautifully. I love the idea of toting around a smallish device and being able to read books, blogs, papers, whatever. Oh, and I love the samples, the mobile downloads, and the storage. I love that all these books sync with your iPod/iPhone and that you can get classics for free. Love all these things, which are essentially equal on all these devices.

The Kindle has me won, though, and here are the reasons why:

1. I love that screen. When I played with my sister-in-law's Kindle, I was amazed with how easy it was to read that non-lit screen. Sunshine? Sure! Pictures? Great in black and white. It is really cool, really easy on the eyes, and much mote like reading a book than a computer screen. I have not seen the iPad in person, but reading on the iPod touch is a little hard. Oh, and forget about it in the sunshine.

2. Eventually, I am sure I will get an iPhone. My future iPhone will do just about everything the iPad will do, and I won't want to tote around two similar devices. Or pay for monthly service for both, which brings me to...

3. The Kindle's upfront price includes the mobile access to downloads and updates in 3G. I love this. I think spending the $250- $500 is worth it, just to have both the hardware and the connection all at once. Not adding another monthly bill to my life = super-big plus.

Don't get me wrong. I'm an Apple lady. I am writing this on the iPod we got for our two-year-old. I love this thing, which makes me believe that the iPad will be awesome for those who want a "laptop light" to tote around. But I have an iBook. I want a reading machine so I can have fewer silverfish in my life, and read the rest of the three very cool books I have thusfar previewed.

I love that reading is back on my life, and can't wait to get cracking. Now, I just need that Kindle...


Sent from Henry's iPod

Small victory

That dude who walks across my yard every day around 4:30pm, remember him? He took the sidewalk today. I'd like to think it's because I walked outside and fully busted him last week (I just looked puzzled and said, "Um, hello?"), but it's probably because it's raining. No one wants to walk across wet grass/leaves. I have not been stoked about this very cold, very heavy rain all day today, but right now I love it.

Food issues.

I have been reading again, which is awesome. My current book is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. I've also recently read Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. Between the two, I'm settling in on a new way of looking at food, and hoping it will help bring more love to our table and a little less bulk to my behind.

I think I learned many of the lessons in those pages long ago, but have managed to put many of them aside. Eating "cheap" and "convenient" has, over time, warped my tastebuds and my perceptions of how one should enjoy food, and I am really looking forward to getting back to basics, back to local, back to a more sustainable food life. Lest you think I grew up eating only local and natural, let me clarify: this food business racket had me from the beginning. Those packaged solutions to dilemmas have been around for a long time, and I am definitely in the crowd of those who have been taken (even though I have tried to resist, at least from time to time, on certain points anyway).

Getting back to basics is something I had been working on while I was nursing Toby, since I could eat no soy, and the soy industry has managed to get itself a little piece of about 80% of the processed foods, both organic and conventional. Rather than truly finding a peaceful, process-free zone, however, I craved what I could not have and found the few processed items I could eat, and ate them up like crazy.

This spring it's time for rebirth. We're planting a garden, a really awesome garden, that will hopefully give us many of our veggies. We are making a plan to shop the farmer's markets, and plan food around ingredients rather than buy the ingredients around our meal plans. We will eat local as much as we can, and we will eat in season. We may have to deviate to accommodate Henry's love of fruit, but we will do it as rarely as we can manage. We will eat food, not "edible food-like products," and will make things from scratch.

It will be work, but it will be work that brings life to the house. I can think of nothing better than food prepared with love, so making it a priority will be our new priority.

I'm also giving up coupons. Of course, I will be happy to use them if we happen to find one for something we already use, but there will be none of this shopping-around-the-coupons fr our house anymore. The food industry, together with chemical companies, are a manipulative bunch. The lure of saving a dollar on something I would never otherwise buy has gotten me in the past, and I have a cabinet of cleaners and a pantry with some odd processed food items to prove it. Perhaps one of the best lessons embedded in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is that "cheap food" from industrial sources is a myth. We are paying far more, both in real dollars and in costs to health and community, supporting that low price tag in the store.

I sound a little bit "holier-than-thou" right? OK, more than a little. I know. I'll get back to you after I have tried to convince my 3 year old that fish sticks aren't the best dinner...