On the first day, before heading to the bus stop, we took a walk around our yard while talking about all the wonderful things we did this summer and what kindergarten might be like.

We visited our garden (which has expanded out into the grass) and discovered our first green pumpkin peeking out from under the leaves.

Next Lily said goodbye to the chickens, which I promised to take very good care of while she was at school.

And then we headed out to the bus stop where we waited and chatted some more until suddenly, before I knew it this happened.

[This, by the way, would be the moment that Mama completely forgot how to breathe. Luckily Papa was willing to trail the bus to school and provide on the scene reports via text message to soothe the anxious Mama back home.]

Three hours later, she was back. Absolutely beaming while she reported that…

“School is SO AWESOME Mama!!”

We enjoyed lunch together and then we did what we do.

We packed up the car and headed off to work where Lily was greeted like a celebrity by the farm crew, which she soaked up for a few minutes and then got right to work doing her chores (checking on the calves and helping her brother to bring fresh greens to the rabbits) before we headed off to the market.

Once we got to the market she opted to play with her brother a little less and wait on customers a little more.

“Because,” she told Quinn. “I’m much more of a big kid now that I’m a kindergartner.”

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Happy weekend to you!

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As our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) pick-ups are quickly coming to an end (just three more weeks!), I’m continuing to look for ways to preserve all the delicious, organic produce we pick up each week.

I thought I would try my hand at making homemade jam this year (and even bought myself a little canning kit that was half price at the grocery store) but strawberries slid into blueberries and raspberries and now apples and I have yet to attempt any canning. Next year!

In the meantime, something that I did start doing this year that is working very well is making “soup starter” bags!

In the past making soup has often felt overwhelming to me – especially buying all the ingredients and chopping everything up. It seems silly as I write it out but it often does just feel like too much effort to squeeze into our busy days.

So this year I have been chopping celery, carrots, onions and potatoes in bulk and storing them in little Ziploc bags in the freezer.

When I want to make soup, I just pull out a bag and saute the veggies in butter or oil and my soup is well under way!

Following the lead of Amanda Soule, whose beautiful book The Creative Family, I have been reading (and re-reading!), I set Quinn up with a big bowl and let him make his own “soup” with the vegetables I discarded. When we were all finished we carried the scraps out to our chickens and they had a nice little feast!

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September, 2010: I completely forgot about making soup starter bags but have recently been doing so again (all it takes is one turning leaf on a tree and I start thinking about baking bread and making soup!!).  I have to say, they really do make cooking soup “from scratch” a whole lot faster and easier!! :-)

In other related news…I have not done any canning this year. Nothin’. Not even one jar of jelly. (Yet!!! I still have time to make applesauce, right?) I did make a fresh pasta sauce last week however and it was fantastic. And tomorrow I will be trying my hand at rendering lard! Baby steps, my friends.

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Like just about everyone else in the world who read Barbara Kingsolver’s inspiring book, Animal Vegetable Miracle, I decided that we should start having once-a-week homemade pizza nights.

I ordered Ricki Carroll’s book from the library and started dreaming about the fresh mozzarella cheese we’d make and enjoy on our pizza.

But just like the canning kit I bought to make jam this summer, the cheese-making supplies remain on a shelf gathering dust.

As discouragement and frustration set in every time I popped another frozen pizza in the toaster, I decided to shift my perspective.

What if we started to consciously enjoy and appreciate our frozen pizzas and make eating them a special event (not just a default dinner)?

And then what if we switched from frozen pizzas to pizza shells that the kids could spread (store-bought) sauce and (store-bought) mozzarella on, so things could start to feel a little bit more homemade?

And then what if we shifted from pizza shells to store-bought dough that we could roll ourselves. And from shredded mozzarella to fresh (store-bought) mozzarella for us? (The kids prefer the shredded mozzarella.)

Eventually we’ll get to the cheese-making and homemade dough and our own canned tomato sauce, but for now we are really enjoying our own mostly-homemade, fun, toddler-friendly version of pizza night!

Here are some pictures from last night’s pizza-making fun…

Kneading the dough:

Rolling the dough:

Adding sauce:

Pesto pizza with tomatoes, caramelized onions, pine nuts, blue cheese and fresh mozzarella (for the adults):

We roasted corn on the grill:

The herb garden on the deck (basil, parsley and nasturtiums):

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August, 2010:  Despite the fact that I now have a package of rennet in the fridge and access to plenty of delicious, farm fresh milk, I have still yet to try my hand at making cheese! To be perfectly honest, we have gone in the opposite direction this summer — eating take-out pizza with the farm crew at least one night a week. (Not exactly where I want to be in terms of eating healthily, frugally, and sustainably — but a lovely weekly ritual nonetheless.) We have however been greatly enjoying one of Barbara Kingsolver’s recipes from the book — Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies! YUM!!!

Thank you for climbing your “big ol’ pregnant belly” up the mountain and for all the ways you support me and my work, Jen!

Thank you Kate (who I see has added some new necklaces to her shop)!!

And…a BIG thank you to all of you who read here and comment here and attend my events and helped to celebrate my two-year blog anniversary!

Namasté friends.

I often use this space to share ways that I personally “fill the well” – at the beach, dancing with the Ladies, quiet time alone — but today I want to tell you about one of our favorite family activities…Contra Dancing!

Our kids have been Contra Dancing with us their whole lives. I twirled and do-si-do’d while pregnant with each of them and one of the first family dates we went on soon after Quinn was born was to a Contra Dance. (I remember because people kept asking me when my baby was due and I had to keep saying…oh two weeks ago. He’s right over there with my husband. Good times.)

I first heard of Contra Dancing when I was in high school my aunt met the man who would become her husband, and our beloved Uncle Bill, at a dance. Then somewhere along the line in our dating years, John and I decided to give it a try and were surprised by just how much fun we had!

Sure it’s kind of goofy. And a little awkward at first. But once you get over that, it’s a whole LOT of fun!

Contra Dances are social mixers. You do not need to have a partner to attend and by the end of the night you will likely have danced with everyone there!

The moves, which are all taught as you go, are similar to the square dancing I learned — and perhaps you did too — in middle school PE classes but the whole event is SO much more.

First of all, the music is amazing. Even if you aren’t a dancer, you can come and sit and listen (and knit!) and soak up all the good energy.

Secondly, you will laugh a LOT. Stepped on toes. Misplacement of hands. Dancing in the wrong direction. It all happens. And it’s all the perfect excuse for a good laugh.

Plus it’s a great workout. Seriously. Dance two or three songs in a row and your heart will be pumping!

But I think what I love most about Contra Dancing is that it is a wonderful, traditional, all-ages community event that I feel really good about sharing with my children.

Okay. That and it is SO much fun to dance in a twirly skirt!!!!!

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For those who are local, I hope you’ll join me Saturday night from 7-10 p.m. for the first Community Contra Dance at Casey Farm in Saunderstown, RI.

For everyone else, check out this link to find a Contra Dance near you!

Happy Weekend Friends!

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I didn’t actually climb this mountain — but I sure enjoyed photographing it.

When our family went to camp last year we played a game called “Climb the Mountain.” Everyone made a big circle and the camp director shouted out “Climb the mountain if you…drove more than four hours to get here…have never slept in a cabin before…love the color yellow…etc.”

If what was spoken applied, you ran into the center of the circle (climbed the mountain). And then ran back out. It was a quick and easy ice-breaker and it was a whole lot of FUN!

We can’t exactly play that here but in the interest of getting to know more about the wonderful people who visit here (more than 10,000 of you each month according to my latest stats!!!) I came up with my own blog version of the game. And to make it more interesting, there’s a great give-away to go with it!

All you have to do to play along is leave your comment(s) at the end of this post! (Oh and by the way, this game / giveaway is open to everyone, including my friends and family who seem to think that there are some sort of corporate rules that make them ineligible. Yeah. Not true.)

So here goes. Climb the Mountain (er…leave a comment) if…

~ You have been reading exhale. return to center. since I launched it in August 2008.

~ You subscribe to my blog posts via e-mail.

~ You have taken a yoga class with me, or attended one of my retreats, Mothers’ Circles or workshops.

~ You live far away but wish you could attend one of my events.

~ You subscribe to my e-newsletter.

~ You have been a sponsor here.

~ You read one (or both) of my old blogs (this one or this one).

~ You read my essay on mothering.com and “tracked me down.”

~ You read my essay in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms.

~ Something I have written has made you cry. And you’ve thanked me for it!

~ We met through the RI Birth Network.

~ We connected through kidoinfo.com, soulemama.com, Writer Mama or mothering.com.

~ We’re “old friends” who reconnected through facebook!

~ You buy your favorite Pat’s Pastured products from me or are a fan of Pat’s Pastured!

~ We have a shared love of Treasure-Mapping.

~ You can’t remember how you found your way here.

~ I’ve interviewed you – or you’ve interviewed me!

~ You will be attending the Contra Dance that I am hosting THIS Saturday!

~ You have never commented here before.

~ You loaned me something and I kept it way too long. (Kidding. I never do this.)

~ You have no idea who I am or what this blog is about – you’re just here for the give-away!

~ None of the above – but you’d like to leave a comment anyway!

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1. Leave a separate comment for any of the above that apply – you will be entered into the drawing for each comment!! (Up to a total of 10 comments per person!!)

2. For an additional chance to win, please share this giveaway on twitter, or facebook, or link to it from your blog. (There’s a little “Share This” button at the bottom left of this post that makes it easy to do!) Come back here and leave a comment telling what you did to spread the word and you will be entered for ANOTHER chance to win!

Comments closed. Thanks for playing along! I’ll be back on Sunday to announce the winner!

Comments will remain open until Friday (8/27) at 8 a.m. EST when I will select the winner of this beautiful EXHALE necklace handmade by my friend and longtime blog sponsor Kate Bussey of Mills Creek Market.

Good Luck! And…

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

For reading. For commenting. For supporting me in doing the work I love!

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“Ensemble, that is the key to musical enjoyment. Your soloist, no matter how skillful, is a bird of a different feather, and your concert-goer, though he feed upon symphony as a lamb upon milk, is no true lover if he play no instrument. Your true lover does more than admire the muse; he sweats a little in her service.”

~Catherine Drinker Bowen

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It’s time for me to sweat a little in service to the muse! For those who are local, I hope you’ll join me at one (or both) of these upcoming events…

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It’s never too Late
(THIS!) Sunday, Aug 22 ~ 10 a.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of So. County, Peacedale, RI

Erin Barrette Goodman grew up in a wonderful, loving, and decidedly non-musical family. She is a drop out of both flute and piano lessons and lived most of her life believing that she couldn’t carry a tune and has no rhythm until recently when she began singing and dancing (in public!) – and loving every minute of it! With words, songs and photographs she will share her story of entering the magical world of casual music-making as an adult.

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Community Contra Dance
(NEXT!) Saturday, Aug 28
Casey Farm, Saunderstown, RI

Beginner and family-friendly. No partner necessary. All dances will be taught and then called during the dance. Live music provided by Farm Dog & Friends. Dances called by Paul Wilde. Tickets (sold at the door): $5 per person or $10 per couple/family. Questions? E-mail Erin Goodman at caseyfarmnews@gmail.com.

*** This is an alcohol-free event. Please refrain from wearing fragrances due to allergies and close proximity of dancing. Children of all ages are most welcome but must be supervised by a parent or caregiver at all times. ***

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Thank you for welcoming me back to this space. It’s good to be “home.”

Have a wonderful weekend friends.

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Each time we visit we spend some time “hunting for evidence” that we are going to LOVE being part of this new community. 

As many of you know I am struggling quite a bit with this transition. (Huh. Would you look at that? There’s that darn “S” word again.)

I am having a hard time embracing the reality that my sweet girl is moving out of the gardens and open-ended creative play of her beautiful Waldorf-inspired nursery school, her home away from home for the past three years, and into the world of giant yellow buses, hot lunch lines and standardized tests.

I’m slowly making peace with the fact that the beautiful farm-based cottage school that I have been attempting to pull together for the past four years did not manifest in time for kindergarten. That private school tuition is simply not sustainable for our family. That charter school lotteries did not fall in our favor. That homeschooling is an absolutely beautiful option, but not the right one for the unique dynamics of our family.

And that – despite my own baggage and biases and fears – in just a few days our daughter will begin public school.

And yet every time we visit her new school I am reassured.

On our last visit we spotted birdfeeders outside every classroom window and a thriving vegetable garden next to the main entrance.

We were greeted by kind and outgoing staff members who made us feel most welcome.

We read about sweet community events that took place the previous year, through children’s words, on bulletin boards.

And we peeked into library, art and music rooms that made my girl (and her mama) swoon with excitement.

Of course it is going to be different than preschool. Of course. 

And I know there are going to be plenty of things about public school that are going to challenge the heck out of this highly creative, paradigm-shifting, think-out-of-the-box mama.

But I also know that we will find support and love and beauty and community here. 

And these, my friends, are all very good things.

I have been blogging in this space several times a week (ahem…with the exception of this month) for the past two years.

Prior to exhale. return to center. I had two blogs – one on which I documented my days as a writer, yoga teacher, Birth Network founder, aspiring author, who was struggling like heck in the role of stay-at-home-mom, and another where I fancied myself a farmer and nurtured my happy little homesteading dreams.

I remember in the summer of 2008 before I merged the two blogs how things started to feel very uncomfortable.

Through my involvement in our CSA, farming was becoming more and more a part of “every day.” I wanted to find a way to bring everything together and I was searching for the common thread in all that I do.

As I played around with blog platforms and thought about my intended audience and what I wanted to share, I realized that although much of what I share is about my struggles and my shortcomings it is always with the intention of honoring where I am in my growth as a person and continuing to move forward.

And that to do this, I must — on a daily basis — exhale. return to center. 

Earlier this summer, a dear friend shared some wise words with me. ”What we have had to learn and overcome ourselves is our greatest gift to share in our teaching.” 

At the time I remember joking with her that my gift must be being a crazy Type-A perfectionist who is stressed way too much so I can keep learning new ways to recenter myself and share it with others.

Geez. What a gift. I thought.

And yet somewhere in my sarcasm there was truth.

I am not a person who naturally floats through life with peace and equanimity. I am by my very nature a bit restless and unsettled. (I’m told this is one of the things that makes me a good writer.) There is much that I am called to do in this world. I am constantly evolving. Refining. Seeking. Growing.

Although I have been practicing yoga for nearly 15 years now and teaching in one form or another for the past eight years, I am still very much a beginner on this path. I share my days with a runaway train of a mind that I must continually slow down and redirect.

And writing and photography and connecting with all the beautiful Souls who visit this space help me to do just that.

So here I am. Two years and several hundred blog posts later. Life is wonderful and amazing. So many of my dreams are daily realities. And yet still there is discomfort.

For the better part of this year I have been a working mother — a brand new role for me — and as you may have gleaned from my recent (very sparse) blog posts, it has been a major adjustment for me and for our family.

I absolutely love the work that I am doing. I love the ways our world has expanded and our community has grown.

But (of course) this new, very different rhythm in our days has not been without its challenges. And although I’ve been racing around all summer telling myself that I don’t have time to relax and I don’t have time to cook and I don’t have time to blog, that is not true.

No matter how fast I am moving, it only takes one conscious moment to breathe and savor and appreciate and find center.

And the more that I do those things, rather than expending all of my energy feeling stressed (or talking about being stressed) the more time and energy I have for the things I enjoy like cooking and knitting (and riding roller coasters!) and yes – blogging.

So here I am. Dipping my toes back in to this space. Because now, perhaps more than ever, I really need to make space in my days to exhale. return to center.

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