My Favorite Essential Oil

What a happy coincidence that one of the most versatile essential oils is also one of the cheapest! I reach for lemon essential oil almost every day. Here are some of my favorite uses:

- 2-3 drops of lemon in a load of laundry keeps the washing machine fresh and our clothes smelling amazing. (Even those dirty diaper loads!) I love knowing that lemon essential oil is not just eradicating questionable smells, but its antimicrobial properties are also killing germs in our clothes.

Have you ever forgotten a load in the washer and been greeted by that musty stench the next time you opened the lid? A few drops of lemon and an extra rinse cycle will solve your problem.

- Lemon is an incredible degreaser. I use it to clean handprints off the wall and splatters from behind the stove. (I dilute slightly with water to make it go further.) It's a workhorse on the filthy oven door. Lemon also helps remove grease stains from clothing.

- Looking for a pick-me-up? Lemon and wild orange diffused together is one of the most uplifting blends I've found. Lemon and lavender is also an amazing combination--simultaneously calming and elevating. If you don't have a diffuser, just simmer a few drops of essential oil with water on the stove.

- I use Lemon essential oil, white vinegar, vodka, and water in my fast and easy all-purpose cleaner. I will share the recipe soon!

- One drop of lemon on a microfiber cloth is an effective way to clean screens on your electronic devices. I use it on my laptop and camera.
                                                                                                            

DoTerra Everyday has a list of 101 uses for the three most common oils: lavender, lemon, and peppermint. If you are new to the world of essential oils, their list is an inspiring and doable place to start. I always keep intro kits of lavender, lemon, and peppermint in stock, so if you are interested, let me know. The kits are very affordable and include intro dvds.

Some ideas from the 101 Uses List I want to remember to try:

- Lemon to remove gum from hair. (Well I don't really want to try this, but I will be glad for a solution when the opportunity inevitably presents itself.)

- A lemon-soaked rag as leather maintainer. Just in time for boot season!

- Lemon to clean stainless steel appliances and silver.

- Lemon added to dishwasher detergent for spot-free dishes.

I'd love to hear from you! What's your most-reached-for essential oil? What's your favorite use for lemon? 

As always, if you have questions about essential oils visit my FAQ page or shoot me a message!

Perfect Timing

Timing is everything in photography, unfortunately for us parents. By the time we run for the camera and return to the adorable scene, the kids have gone from holding hands and singing "Kumbaya" to bopping each other's heads with Lego men.

Rain has been working on standing this week, and I keep forgetting to snap a picture of her milestone. So when I walked into the bedroom this morning and saw Gray and Rain standing together at the window, I dashed madly up and down the stairs and over two baby gates to grab my camera.

My chances of catching the shot were slim to none, but a sibling moment this perfect required me to at least try.

And--surprise!--I was rewarded for my efforts. There he was, arm around his sister's back (he doesn't like it when she falls), both of them still looking out the window at the misty morning. 

The photography stars aligned! Not a great picture technically speaking, but a priceless shot to me. (What is it about seeing our children together that tugs so firmly on our heartstrings?)

How about you...have you captured any blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments lately?

Sibling Equality (Or a Pair of Toms for Rain)

Kids should be treated more or less equally, no?

Anyway, that's the excuse I made to justify snagging Rain this fun little pair of Toms on Zulily. I bought her brother the cutest gray Toms when he was her age and figured it was a tradition worth upholding.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Zulily, it's an addictive women's and kids' daily deals site that offers up to 70% off designer brands. Zulily is totally free to join, and if a daily email is too much temptation, you can opt to be notified only when your favorite brands roll around. When you purchase something from Zulily, you also get to enjoy free shipping on everything else you order that day, even if it's all in separate orders.

The Toms event is only on through Friday, September 12, but Zulily has lots of other fun deals coming up. (Carters and Horny Toad look promising!) I'm thinking of matching ties for Gray and Daddy and maybe a new construction toy to put aside for when cabin fever sets in. 

Which means I may have to look for another toy for Rain. Have to keep things equal, you know! 

Gray's First Kayaking Expedition

Gray and I embarked on his maiden kayak journey Labor Day afternoon. Having never taken a two-hour paddle with a two-year-old before, I was a little apprehensive. Would he kick and thrash twenty minutes into the journey, sick of being contained in the small boat? Would he loudly protest the sun in his eyes and life jacket's brace-like restraint around his neck, forcing us to bail and hitchhike home with some old farmer?

Gray's typically hour-long nap had been reduced to a ten-minute catnap on the way, giving me even more reason to be nervous. This wasn't just a kayak trip with a toddler, but a two-hour "bonding experience" with a tired toddler--yikes.

Ten minutes into our journey, we passed Mike along the riverbank. (He had driven downstream to snap our picture.) Gray had already said he was "stuck" (he was somewhat scrunched between my legs), and I was seriously tempted to call it a great first trip and send him home with Daddy. But I summoned my sense of adventure, and we waved and continued on our way.

The afternoon could not have been more perfect for kayaking. We were simultaneously warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze. Cicadas and grasshoppers sang in the grassy riverbanks, and enormous cloud mountains towered above us, punctuated by the occasional eagle. Three turtles jumped off a log as we passed, their formation mirrored by a cluster of jets in the sky.

Gray narrated the river's every twist and turn and kept exclaiming, "The pyrex is swimming!" (He calls the kayak a pyrex, much to our amusement.) He also sang, "Mare, mare, mare the boat, gently down the stream," in his signature toddler falsetto. (He gets the "merrily, merrily" chorus a little confused with the "row, row" part--ha!)

In Gray's mind, the trip's highlight was pulling our boat to shore and eating our jerky and dried mangoes on a log. (He is all about the food, that boy.)

In Mommy's mind, the trip's highlight was that I kept us afloat and happy for two hours. No tipping! No tantrums!

All too soon, we arrived at the boat landing, and there was Daddy, ready to load our muddy kayak into the freshly vacuumed Caravan.

Gray's first kayak trip was a success, and I'm enjoying it even more in retrospect (as we often do with things that make us a bit nervous!). Can't wait to go again!

Mike kayaked the rest of the river into Red Wing later that afternoon. Here's Gray and Rain,
watching for Daddy to round the Mississippi's big bend and dock at Bay Point Park.

Our Third Child (For Now)

We have another baby in the house! And no, it's not what you think. 

Our backyard garden is pretty much like a third child right now: labor-intensive and incredibly time-consuming! But oh-so-rewarding. Beautiful, too, wouldn't you agree?

The kids love the abundance of late-summer backyard time and are often content to play on a blanket near the garden's edge while I pick. (Until Gray gets a notion to stomp Nasturtiums or poke tomatoes, that is.)

There's something so satisfying about snipping and cutting beans on a warm summer evening as cricket songs drift through the kitchen screen door and a whirring fan cools a pan of freshly cooked beans. It's funny how a dreaded childhood chore now makes me so nostalgic. (And yes, I can't wait for the day when I can dump another mountain of beans in front of my children who think they are finally done snipping and cutting. I will just tell them how much longer the rows and higher the piles my mom made me tend to when I was their age!)

Soon the garden will be covered in snowdrifts and juicy tomatoes reduced to a distant memory. Until then, bring on the weeds and watering, picking and preserving. Everything else can wait...we have a garden to tend and freezer to fill! 

On Having a Two-Year-Old

It seems like just a few months ago they placed him wet and wide-eyed on my chest, but it seems we will have to accept the fact that our little Gray is already two. 

I'll admit it; on his last day of being one, I shed a few tears. "He'll never be one again" entered my mind, and I couldn't shake the thought.

He fell asleep on the drive to Costco that day. I couldn't resist pulling over to snap his picture. Head tilted to the side, morning sun illuminating his summer-bleached locks, favorite green paci in his mouth, and Sheepie nestled in the crook of his arm. Part baby, part toddler, part little boy. 

I want to remember everything about these days. The way we have to keep the kitchen chairs shut up in the bathroom, or else he uses them as ladders to access the fruit bowl and take a bite out of each mango.

The way he makes a realistic-sounding backup beeper noise whenever the van is in reverse.

The way he dotes on his sister, and we often find her surrounded by fifteen toy vehicles. Gray is becoming a little less eager to share with other toddlers, but he never hesitates to lavishly bestow gifts to his little "Ray-Ray."

And speaking of Ray-Ray, he calls her that much of the time now. When she became fussy on a recent road trip, he tried to amuse her: "Do you know what a OG is, Ray-Ray? Do you know what a OG is?" (Followed by an onslaught of giggles, as he knew it was a made-up word!)

So, so many other things I also want to permanently imprint on my brain...

Yesterday I was doing my hair in the bathroom when I heard Rain start to cry in the nursery. I then heard Gray try to comfort her: "We're going to Nate and Darla's pretty soon, honey." (Honey? He called her honey! Be still, my heart!)

He isn't happy at the table unless his sister's high chair is right next to his own. None of this kitty-corner stuff. And they both love to wrestle on the bed, laughing hysterically as they roll around. I used to shout a slew of, "Be careful with your sister!" commands, but after seeing how much she loves the rough and tumble, I've pretty much reduced it to, "Watch out for her head." :-) 

Gray is fairly proficient at putting things away and usually remembers where they belong. After an exceptionally thorough pickup session in the guest room (all by himself, as I was nursing Rain!), he told me, "Wow! The guest room is tidy and special!"

The other day I was looking for the shirt I had set out for him, and I discovered he had put it back in the dresser! In the right drawer, even!

Sometimes he gets a little jealous of his sis. Before church one evening, he snatched Rain's headband off her head and perched it atop his own. When I told him headbands were usually just for girls, he looked at his reflection in the stove door and corrected the statement: "Headbands are for people."

This is one little guy that hates to be cleaned. As he resisted a diaper change, I told him, "I'm the mommy. It's my job to clean you." He thought about it and then replied, "Or else the people would say, "Why doesn't the mommy clean the Gray-Gray?" 

Gray is also a budding philosopher. The other day he looked out his bedroom window and stated, "The neighborhood is disappointing." (Huh?) Sometimes he gets on a roll with "A dog is a dog. A daddy is a daddy. A banana is a banana. A bridge is a bridge. A broom is a broom." (Okay...this is my fault. It all started when he said Grandpa is an uncle, and I said Grandpa is actually a grandpa. Sorry, Mike!)

Don't be mistaken--there's enough spunk to offset the sweetness! Running naked through the house to escape the imminent diaper. Throwing all the shoes on the back porch into the swimming pool. Putting miscellaneous objects in the toilet. Saying "No kisses!" to his mama. Hiding under the neighbor's porch (probably looking for their cat). I could go on. 

Two is certainly an intense adventure, and we're loving (almost) every moment of it. We are so lucky to have you in our lives, little Gray!

Summer Bucket List

Can you believe June is behind us? If you’re like me and think of summer as June, July, and August, this means summer is already a third over. Sobering!

A few weeks ago, Mike and I decided to create a bucket list to help our family “suck the life out of summer” so we don’t have regrets when parka season strikes again.

Just for fun, we decided to write our ideas independently and then compare them. Surprisingly, our lists were almost identical! I won’t bore you with the whole list (we have unrealistic ambitions), but here’s a sampling:

• Visit all of Red Wing’s 30-some parks (dinky neighborhood ones included...our kids are still at the age where they think everything’s fun!)
• Repopulate our backyard chicken coop
• Visit Duluth
• Buy Hager Heights chicken and bring it to the Bay City beach
• Go to the MN Children’s Museum on a rainy Saturday
• Visit Lark Toys in Winona
• Picnic and wade in Hay Creek
• Attend as many Red Wing summer events as possible (Art festivals, music in the park, River City Days, Farmers' Market)
• Explore Stockholm (pie, anyone?)
• Visit Lake Byllesby in Cannon Falls, Hok-Si-La Park, and Diamond Bluff Beach
• Catch fireflies in a jar
• Set up our tent in the backyard
• Build a water table
• Explore Anderson Center’s sculpture garden
• Play tennis (Gray can be our ball chaser!)
• Make a pinecone birdfeeder with Gray
• Get out instruments and have a family music night (shakers and drums for kids)
• Watch old family movies
• Hike Coon Hill with a blanket to read stories in the meadow

How about you...what's on your family's must-do summer list? Are you a third through it? Time is ticking!