The Little Ones

Photo by Anna Rummey of Rummey Bears.

Photo by Tyler Branch.

Today's post is the latest in the Beyond Childhood series, which features conversation about living love, putting your family first, and how to enjoy marriage and parenthood.

Photo (and all photos below) from the Little Sapling Toys shop.

Today I bring you Little Sapling Toys, a lovely Etsy site with all natural and safe infant and toddler toys. 


Shop owners Nick and Kimber would like to offer 10% off any order to all Alive in the Fire readers. Use the coupon code ALIVE10 when checking out (valid until February 14th).


More about the shop:
We all have a hand in design, production, business, or packaging in some way. During those necessary breaks we play hide and seek, eat, bike or jog. On Sundays we go to church, eat and play games together.

Toys: We brought life to the classic wooden teether by offering the widest selection of shapes available. We have designed and produced a solid selection of organic developmental toys and blocks. Our newest endeavor is the land of personalization with Blue, our laser engraver.

Our Philosophy: Here at LST, we are committed to quality toys and a healthy earth. We plant a tree for every toy sold, use FSC Certified hardwoods, recycled content packaging and participate in our local green power program.

Each toy is handmade in our workshop (which is in transition right now between Boise, Utah and Minnesota). We design our toys to help young children develop creativity, pattern recognition and fine motor skills. However, the most important toy any child can have is his or her caregiver. For this reason, our educational toys are most effective with interactive play.

Read more on Little Sapling Toys and keep up with their sales and giveaways on their Facebook page or their main site.


Get shoppin' for your little ones!

Check out this adorable stacking toy. And what a cute picture!

Little Sapling Toys makes a ton of cute teethers, like this guitar.

Or an airplane, if your little guy loves things that go.

Ready for the Impossible?

 

Photo via Pennyweight.

I have a feeling 2011 is going to be an incredible year. Are you ready for it?

I'm ready for quiet moments, full skies and elaborate dreams. I plan to do plenty of yoga, healthy cooking, and reading for fun.

And I want healthy relationships -- with my Hubs, my friends, and myself -- to be at the top of the list.

Photo via Andrew + Carissa.

Photo via Atlantic Tree Fox.

Now is one of those times of year I feel pretty reflective. I find myself reminiscing about my favorite memories -- which means reliving the Big Day over and over. Anyone else wish they could enjoy their wedding day all over again just because it was so wonderful?

Before we left California, I was also helping my mom pack up a few boxes and get rid of some of my old stuff. I spent a few hours going through old papers -- birthday cards, love notes from my lunchboxes as a kid, letters from penpals, journal entries, high school essays. I found myself feeling strangely sentimental, and sad to leave my family. The cards from both of my late grandmothers almost brought a tear, and more so they have inspired new poetry.

Photo via A Desert Fete. 

Photo via Oh Happy Day!

Getting back to our wonderful little apartment has also inspired me. Hubs and I endured a particularly long and ridiculous journey home (delays at the airport, delays for our bags, delays for the cab) so we were pretty happy once we made it to our bed last night.

We spent the whole day today cleaning, organizing, and getting rid of old stuff. The perfect New Year's purge!

It felt great to free up some space and tidy up. We still have a bit to do -- and I have big plans for my own new planning schemes to keep things easy to find! 

Photo via David and Sarah.

Photo via Stephen Beadles Photography.

At the start of January, it's easy to look forward and think how lovely and open the new year is. It's just as easy to look back at the year behind us and get overwhelmed by how much we had to do to survive it.

Are you busy looking forward, or looking back?

At this very moment, I am equally at peace with my goals for the new year and my accomplishments from the past year. I feel prepared to do better, to grow, to let go. I'm as ready for the impossible as I can be.

Photo by Jose Villa.

A final quick note: I'll be featuring a new series here on Alive in the Fire very soon! It's called:

Beyond Childhood (How to Love Your Kiddos Better) 

Get excited; you're going to be seeing a lot of adorable baby pictures, parenting advice, thoughts for expectant moms-to-be, reviews of green products, and ways to make family your top priority in 2011! I hope you'll follow along and consider contributing your comments and ideas.

If you know of a mom who might want to share her story, please have her email me here: aliveinthefire at gmail dot com.

I'd also love to hear from you with ideas about:

• Family-focused companies
• Eco-friendly and green products for babies
• How to put family first
• Raising kids with love, hope and spirit
• Eating well for you and your family

Thanks and namaste!

Mammograms .....who me????

So today I had my first mammogram!! Yes, it hurt but only for a few seconds and even though I thought I would be embarrassed about standing half naked in from of a machine it really wasn't all that bad, but really is anything really all that bad after giving birth. So for those of you who don't get regular mammos get going it isn't that bad and it could just say a life....yours!!!

BTW I am still in shock that I am old enough to have a mammo, wasn't it just yesterday I was 20??

I have huge mommy guilt!!!

So I left last night for a conference in FL (I live IN VA) I left detailed instructions for my husband who honestly is not a details man...isn't that true for most men??? Anyway I get a text message this morning that reads "I'm sick" Sick?? as in flu sick, or sick and tired of the kids sick...a little more detail is needed.

I call him as soon as I can break free from my conference he answers the phone in the best darth vader voice I have heard since it was up on the big screen. Dan? I ask "Yes" he says. "What happened to you from last night to today?" I say "I'm sick and I stayed home today" he says. Now I am thinking great no one is on schedule and worse yet did he even take the kids to school? He did thank goodness!

Yet as I sat down and I thought "oh my poor kids" I just know that he will not be able to be as attentive to their needs since he is sick and without the attention they will just become more needy and whiny not fun to deal with as a parent when you are not feeling well and lets not dismiss the fact that they may also get whatever it is that Dan has!!!!! Oh the drama!!!

Then as I listened to the most boring speaker ever ... seriously all I could hear was the sound of someone from the peanuts cartoon "whan whan whan" anyway my mind started to drift off to why am I here?? why am I working when I could be home taking care of my family? Sure I need to work to maintain our current lifestyle but if we downsized things I could stay at home and totally be there for my kids.

I called my husband back at the end of the day and asked if he wanted me to come home. "No, I want you to stay there and enjoy yourself you deserve it, you basically work 2 jobs with work and us and you deserve some alone time, we will be fine" Is that a great husband or what??? I don't know that I tell him often enough how much I love him. He has supported me and pushed me and I am who I am today career wise and as a Mom because of his support.

Hopefully when I return on Wednesday night all will be OK and I know I will be greeted with "Mommy your home!" accompanied by lots of hugs and kisses. Thanks honey for supporting me and being the best Dad and Husband a family could have, but please make sure the kids take a bath and eat dinner every night! :)

One more day!!!

Well, I am on day 3 of 4 and I am longing to be home I did not sleep well last night sure if it was the paper thin walls of this lovely Hilton hotel or the planes that kept landing and taking off last night or simply that I miss my family and my bed as well as the man I share it with.

I spoke to Daddy last night and all seems to be going well my son had an accident yesterday on the way to daycare because my husband forgot to have him go potty when he woke up. My daughter complained that her hair didn't look good because daddy forget to comb it but hey there were dressed and they had food so they were good to go.

A girlfriend of mine sent me the link below which made me howl with laughter in my hotel room this morning, sorry room 650! Here it is for you to enjoy too!

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=4274384