Yesterday afternoon Matt, Annabelle and I drove into D.C. to attend a children’s Thanksgiving event at the National Museum of the American Indian. On the way there, Annabelle fell asleep in the car, so Matt asked me if I wanted to stop and take pictures. Of course, I accepted and gladly suggested Georgetown. He dropped me off behind M Street where I wandered around Montrose Park and a nearby cemetery where I snapped lots and lots of photos. Above is what I saw.

Once Annabelle woke up we played in the Montrose park for a bit before loading back up into the car and heading towards the Museum of the American Indian. While searching for parking, an officer stopped us at a light where we were made to wait for about 20 minutes. We saw

leaders from China and Germany passing through on their way to the Whitehouse where President Bush hosted the G20 Summit to discuss regulating the global economy and world trade. After the officer waved us through though, we sat in traffic again because

protesters rallied against California’s Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage. The group was full of energy with lots of rainbow umbrellas and flags, awesome and intelligent signs (I particularly enjoyed one sign that said, “Let’s Vote on Your Marriage”), and an enthusiastic and steadfast crowd who endured brief but heavy down pours.

Phew! What a day downtown. After our busy day in the city, we’re leaning towards a low key children’s event with ample parking and no risk of protests and world summits. That said, I felt grateful that my daughter not only took in a beautiful day in the park but also saw motorcades for world leaders, as well as a rally that supports civil rights. Not too shabby for a trip downtown.

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I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Dad pushes his dear one across the pavement in her miniature car, which she found at the Goodwill.

catching leaves is as much fun in the dark as it is in the light; the leaves highlighted by a dim cast from our neighborhood lamps

when cars ride by

a silhouette of trees created by lights from neighboring apartments

a moon hidden but glowing from behind the clouds; what I see from our swingset.

With our early evening play resembling the night, I am beginning to see the rich colors and opportunity for adventure that Van Gogh alludes to.

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Yesterday, in what turned out to be the longest of nights (during which my husband and I pleaded with our daughter  to sleep or at least rest), I made the decision to get out of bed with my daughter at 6 a.m. and take her for a drive so that my husband could get a few hours of sleep and function as a somewhat sane person during the day.

I quickly dressed and brought Annabelle downstairs where we strapped on her sparkling pink sneakers over her polka dotted footy pajamas.   Since it was so early in the day and the air was cool, I selected a puffy white vest for her to wear over her pajamas.  Looking at her (and thinking about it now), I realize how much we, as parents, get away with when it’s that early in the morning (i.e. dressing our kids as though they dressed themselves) and how much fun it is to be a parent (though I would vote for sleep over a silly outfit any day).

At first, I thought I would take her to see the ducks, although we were both disappointed when some early morning walkers told us that even the ducks don’t come out as early as we do (I politely told the walkers that we usually prefer to sleep at that hour).  I then promised Annabelle that we would have more fun with the ducks at a later time but that we needed to go elsewhere.  Still, I had no idea where to take her.

Then I jogged my memory for ideas of other ponds or at least safe places to go so early in the day.  With all the excitement of the election and my a rekindled interest in politics, I decided that we should drive into the city and take in the national sights early in the day–something that I had never done before.

Driving into D.C. on Constitution Ave., we took in the colorful foliage and parked nearby the World War II Memorial.  As we headed for the Memorial, we saw

dazzling red and gold trees

the Washington Monument reflecting in the pond with gorgeous trees decorating its base

and  on our way back we stopped at the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue

As we jogged up to the White House, Annabelle and I sang her favorite “Choo-choo” song with lyrics that go something like, “First we go to so and so’s house and then we go to so and so’s house.”  Since we were at the president’s house, I sang the song that way too.  The only other visitors were 2 middle aged men in law sweat shirts, and I can only wonder what they thought of us since we literally jogged up, sang our song, snapped the above photo, and jogged away.

While my night and morning didn’t turn out as I had expected them to, my daughter and I still managed to enjoy the morning and do something we had never done before.  Admittedly, I felt exhausted for the rest of the day, and yet, I am still happy for my adventurous morning with her.

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Now that Election day has come and gone and history was made, I found myself wandering through my own sleepy world with a small smile on my face. I feel so pleased with our election’s results, as many of you may well know. I do offer my apologies to readers who enjoy my blog but who may not like to hear my politics. I promise to get back to talking about the small stuff, the green stuff, the homeschooling and parenting stuff that bring many of you over here. So, let’s get to it.

Today, with autumn as our backdrop, our Montessori group planned to head outside to spend a day raking, jumping, and playing in leaves. Not only is raking leaves a practical living skill for our preschoolers to learn, but being outside collecting leaves and playing with them inspires a love and connection with nature that is invaluable.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me share a bit about how our lesson went. The mom/guides enthusiastically guided our children outdoors with rakes in hand. Once outside, our children noticed this or that and the raking of leaves was all but forgotten. Still, we reminded our children that there was fun to be hand and leaves to raked, so we (the moms) began to rake.

Minutes later our little ones noticed that their stomachs were rumbling. It was snack time. Indoors we went. Once inside, the children set the table with place mats, bowls, and plates. We then served them apples and carrots to fuel their energy for another round of raking. Here are pictures of the hungry ones:

Once snack time ended, our children headed back outdoors although this time with a little more gusto for leaf raking. Another mom and I carried our rakes to large leafy patch of the yard and began to rake and rake and rake. Eventually, the older children took notice and wandered over. Then, the younger ones joined us to observe the work that is raking leaves. A 3 year old in our group told me, “This is hard. I don’t think that I like raking leaves.” So the other mother and I reminded him about the best part of raking leaves, “You can jump in them, dear.”

And so we raked some more. Below are a few more pictures from our lovely morning with the leaves:

Annabelle uses her head to rake . Max is amused.

Max shows the younger children how to rake.

Sabrina is enthusiastic, at last, to be among the leaves.

I have to confess that when I was growing up in a leafy, leafy neighborhood in Connecticut, I detested raking leaves. What I remember though are funny and sometimes odd conversations had with my parents, neighbors, and my grandfather. Raking leaves was simply a matter of having patience, hanging in there, and feeling a little bit of relief when the yard was clear. As an adult though, I am learning to like it (although our yard is much, much smaller than when I was a kid) and am hopeful that Annabelle may enjoy it too.

Below I’ve included resources for fun, enthusiastic leaf raking with your children:

Mommy Lounge

Whole Family

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Last week I introduced Jenny, an environmentalist and green bride who is committed to a lifestyle that puts Mother Earth first. Due to the impressive list of ways that Jenny “goes green,” I am happy to share a few more of her tips with you now, which I hope will be helpful to those of you focused on fall and winter composting and organic gardening. With the weather cooling down, many of us will be raking leaves and tending indoor composts during the winter months, Jenny’s suggestions are of great value to anyone who gardens, yearns to garden, composts, and who wants to learn about how easy composting can be. Below are several common questions I had about composting and gardening followed by suggestions from Jenny.

How do I dispose of fruit and vegetable waste and other food waste, like egg shells, in an environmentally friendly way?

We place vegetable waste, fruit waste and egg shells (that are rich in calcium) in an indoor worm bin. When the worm bin is full, we place remaining waste in a compost bin that we keep outside. We also place citrus peels and vegetables with strong odors (like garlic) in the outdoor compost bin because the worms in our indoor compost do not like these foods.

* From Jessica/ Green Mamma: Remember that in order to create an organic compost, the food scraps that are added to the compost must be leftovers from organic foods. Food scraps from many conventionally grown foods may contain traces of pesticides, which can end up in your compost when you add these foods to it.

How can I use the compost created by worms in an indoor worm bin?

The worms produce vermicompost, or worm poop, which is a valuable worm soil amendment. We mix this with potting soil and use it to repot our plants. We also sprinkle vermicompost on top of potted plants and outdoor plants. We do not use synthetic fertilizer for our many indoor plants.

What kinds of materials from our yards can be added to a compost?

Good question. Our family uses grass cuttings in a number of ways. When we mow our lawn, we leave the bagger off so that the grass cuttings decompose and recycle nitrogen back to the ground. For maintenance and landscaping purposes, we add grass cutting from the front yard to the compost bin to keep our front yard clean.

During the fall, we also place the fallen leaves in the compost bin. We bought a tool to turn our compost and we aerate our compost weekly. We have three compost bins outside and we alternate filling them up so that one bin is always ready with compost. We mix kitchen scraps with grass clippings and leaves to create a good balance between nitrogen and phosphorus. We do not use pesticides or synthetic fertilizer outdoors. We will be using our compost pile for mulch to retard termites.

How did you select your compost bin?

Currently, our county gives away compost bins to residents.

What other materials can be added to a compost?

We place lint from our dryer in the outdoor compost bin. Worms in our indoor worm bin also break down newspapers, although I try to eliminate the pages with colors as the ink used to print color are harmful to the worms.

Do you have any other suggestions for reusing materials that might otherwise be disposed of and end up in landfills?

We go to our local Starbucks/coffee shops and ask them to save used coffee grounds. We use this to mix with the clay soil we have in the yard and also as fertilizer in the yard. The coffee ground increases aeration and drainage of our clay soil.

What other changes are you making to your garden and landscaping that benefit our earth’s environment? Have any of your gardening tricks allowed you to offset global warming?

We are slowly converting portions of our grass lawn to gardens. For the back yard, we want to choose plants that can produce flowers or berries for birds. We also want to plant some fruit trees. We are hoping that the little amount we do can [in our garden and with our many composts] help towards locking in CO2 [and reducing the impact of global warming].

The results of our many gardening and composting changes? We went from throwing out 2-3 bags of regular trash and 2-3 bags of yard waste per week that ends up in the landfill to throwing out less than a bag of garbage per week. The rest of our trash is recycled.

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I am totally digging my new Ocean Minded eco-shoes. If you haven’t heard, Ocean Minded is a company that creates quality footwear and is committed to protecting our beaches and the environment. What I love about Ocean Minded is that their shoes are hip and super comfy, plus, when sporting them, wearers may experience a do-gooder high. Ocean Minded leads community beach clean-ups and educates their customers on the importance of leaving the ocean and all waterways in better condition than when they were found.

Speaking of clean oceans and waterways and the creatures who live there, last week I had the opportunity to meet Milton and Feebee, the soon-to-be stars of the film The Turtle’s Song. While admiring these beautiful loggerhead turtles, our family learned about the ill effects of litter in the ocean on our sea friends. To my embarrassment, our daughter toted a large balloon through the nature center that houses Milton and Feebee, and well, guess what is a major source of ocean litter? You guessed it. Balloons. Sea animals get caught up in the strings and ingest the plastic. Not cool. So, we’ll be sticking with latex balloons since they biodegrade (if accidentally released) and safely disposing of the string too. Below is a picture of the beautiful Milton, who has a blue sex marker on his shell. Next month, Milton and Sophie will be released into the wild. I felt grateful and lucky to be able to have met them.

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For the second day of a bloggy Oktoberfest, why not go pumpkin picking? For those of you with children, this is a fun way to get outside, enjoy the fall weather, and let your little pumpkin pickers shine by selecting their very own pumpkins. Plus, the possibilities are endless! You can carve a pumpkin, paint a pumpkin, bake pumpkin seeds, bake pumpkin pie, eat pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie, and carve a jack-o-lantern.

Last week I learned about a pumpkin grower named Steve Connelly who may beat the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s largest pumpkin. Weighing in at a possible 1900 lbs., Connelly’s pumpkin has been growing since the year 2000! To see an interview with Connelly and take a peak at his pumpkin, head on over here. And to learn more about the contest he is participating in, go here.

What aspirations do you have your pumpkin(s) this year?

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Just in case you’d like to see what I’ve been up to around the blogosphere, I thought I would share a few articles that I’ve written over the last couple of weeks.  The most recent is on API Speaks, the blog of Attachment Parenting International, and is entitled “Tantrums: Opportunities to Connect.” As you might expect, I was inspired to write this article because Annabelle is talking more and more and feeling ever more frustrated.  Writing this piece was a wonderful opportunity for me to reflect on what we and our daughter are experiencing and how we can be the parents she needs us to be right now.

Two  green living articles are available on 5 Minutes for Going Green; one is called “It’s Getting Cool: 5 Easy Ways to Warm Up,” and the other is “Go Green and Get Happy!”

As someone who loves to write, I tend to find topics that are relevant to my own life and interests.  With the weather cooling down and fuel prices soaring, my husband and I are looking to save money and stay warm.  Researching and writing about how to manage the cold weather and our energy use was practical and fun to do.  Also, I have been searching for ways to become more active on behalf of the environment and get out and meet like-minded people too.  Thus, crafting “Go Green and Get Happy!” gave me a few ideas and the push I needed to take action.  Now I am planning to participate in a tree and shrub planting day this coming November with the National Audubon Society.

I hope you will share your thoughts on volunteering on behalf of the environment with me.  I would especially love to hear from those of you who bring your children along with you, as it has been a challenge for me to find volunteer work that welcomes small children.   Also, I’d love to learn your ideas on staying warm and saving energy as well as managing and connecting with a tantrum prone child.

Thanks again for taking a peak,

Jessica

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“Produce great pumpkins, the pies will follow later.”

Happy October everyone!  I can’t wait to pick, paint, and carve our pumpkins; but more than anything, I am looking forward to the season’s first pumpkin pie.

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A few Sundays ago I met up with a close friend who loves to walk as much as I do and get outside and into the woods. On a trail in the woods, we are able to put the everyday stresses of our lives behind us while we spend an hour or so talking and sweating it out in the company of Mother Nature. I always look forward to these walks as they leave me feeling refreshed and ready to take on the coming week; I suppose you might say that walking with my girlfriend in the quiet of the woods is rather therapeutic, and I have to say, that as much as I credit my friend (for that zen feeling that all is rught with the world), I really believe that being with nature and her quiet sounds is ultimately what soothes me and helps me return to my life as a mom-on-the-go.

So this week I would like to thank the beautiful peace and quiet that is found in Mother Nature. Of course, when I cannot get outside and I am craving quiet, there are other moments where I find peace, and they are:

sipping tea early in the morning, my body slowly relaxing into itself and waking up

2 miles into a run when my legs and heart are in a rhythm and I feel free

catching sight of my daughter, lively and rowdy in the backseat of my car, suddenly lulled to sleep by the movement of the car

low-key afternoons with Toby (our large Tabby) and Annabelle nestled against me, one in each arm, purring and humming my mind out of autopilot

washing dishes and cleaning up after dinner, alone, while my family walks over to the park

and

the two minutes or so before I drift off to sleep; my hubby’s arm over me and our daughter snuggled into my chest

These quiet moments are, I realize, my heaven on earth. And oh boy do I know that I am not myself without them.

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