Pink Coyote

Multiples

Much retreating is happening lately, as it seems the more I do, the more I need to stop and recharge-multiple R's, as it were :). I took the entire day off Saturday, which was big deal, considering I'm a workaholic and my forced weekend happens mid-week now. Yes, I have to be cajoled into having fun with my family. Actually, it's getting easier. Each time there's a big change, I need time to adjust. So I'm adjusting. -ed. For the time being. We took at journey to the Natural History Museum to look at dinosaur bones and also visit their Butterfly Pavilion, which we were all nuts about. I love museums, but at peak traffic, it felt stuffy inside.

We got to see a chrysalis not long after it's butterfly had vacated, as well as several monarch caterpillars. Did you know that they munch up a bunch of milkweed, as caterpillars, so that they'll be able to use the toxins as defense later on? It sits like a slurry in their bellies and transforms with them. Birds tend to steer clear of Monarchs, and other poisonous butterflies, for this reason.

I'm having the time of my life in the SouLodge. I've created more ceremony than I typically do, just by nature of conducting the class. We learn what we teach, right? The babes and I all created a prayer tie to carry in the car with us. Seems we've fallen into a habit of griping at each other on our mid-week adventures to Ojai and now it's coloring our realationships in a way I don't like. So we recalibrated and did some healing work with these little bundles, which I taught my group to make last week. I smudged out the car, and hung these from the rearview mirror. Much more sacred than fuzzy dice, don't you think? It's kept us mindful to communicate our needs peacefully during travel.

Sunday, I created a mini-retreat in the forest to make my video for the Lodge and found that I needed some recalibrating, too. I drove up the mountain with anxiety in my chest, and my heart feeling a bit weighted, and came down feeling much lighter. This is what retreat in nature does for me-and it doesn't take very long. I hiked and sat for less than two hours and it made a huge inner difference.

Blessings this Monday, dear readers. Oh! For those of you who do journeywork, I have a new secret tool that I love... (postscript: it's an iPhone App)

And! I added more card decks to my shop.

xo

Making Magic

There are so many ways to do it. For Ivy, it's Clover Stirfry.

 

For me, it's embracing healing, changing energy.

 

For Miles, it's creating beauty.

 

How do you make magic?

Eleventh Hour Wishlist

It's here, and truly at the Eleventh Hour! As I've anticipated Christmas this year, I've felt increasingly less stuff-oriented. That being said, there are still some fun and beautiful things I want to share with you. Wishing you an enchanting, magical season of giving...

Coyote Solstice is a book we love as much this year as we did last. Coyote is tricked by a drifter of a girl who takes him to the mall. He goes crazy with shopping and returns to his senses at the checkout stand. It's a fun way to teach children about overconsumption. Coyote returns to his home in the woods for a cozy meal with his friends..and the tricky girl.

A Little Lark has been a great resource for gifts all year and I love giving them my business. I particularly love their letterpressed cards and journals. But I'm showing you the baby, because...well, he's so much cuter than cards.

Felted Wolf and Lamb Baby Slippers by Little Hill Woolworks. Are these the cutest things ever?

 

Picnic, which is wrapped under the tree for Miles, but wondering if I'll be more excited to play it!

 

Wooden Sword and Shield for knighting about and learning how to play fair and act a bit chivalrous-like.

 

This Baba Hut found it's way to my inbox this morning and I have to say that I think it is the COOLEST stuffed thing I've ever seen. Can someone really be this clever?

Mother Nature, by Terri Windling.

 

The amazing vibrational healing talismans of Lilla Jizo.

 

The Top Hat, seen in my banner, can be found at Gentleman's Emporium, home of all your steampunk needs.

My favorite goodie of ALL TIME, by Next Organics, combines organic fruit and high quality chocolate. I've only had the cherries and the coconut so far, and could eat an entire bag by myself if left to my late night devices. Their website sells by the case, but I found individual bags at our local Whole Foods-like health food store. Find them at Amazon, too. It's the sort of treat you might be tempted to hide from loved ones, but so good you can't help but share...a few. Consumable gifts are really my favorite to give.

Aroma Naturals have been my first pick in candles for a very long time. Their Soy Vegpure line is now my uber-fave. We gave Peppermint Vanilla to Mile's teacher, but it's also offered without the whimsical Snowman for year-round burn. So much better than those stinky, synthetic Yankees.

 

 

Deer Flask, by Shoot From the Hip is almost outlaw enough for me to carry. I love the stitching up the back of this beauty, which will hold your cheer safely through the chilly season.

I'm loving This Warm December, the holiday album from Brushfire records featuring one of my three favorite Jacks, and also sweet little Zee Avi, among others on the label. It gets a frequent spin this year, sandwiched lovingly between Ten from the Galley and Hotel Cafe's Winter Songs.

 

And last, but not least, for the wild love on your list...

 

Happy Holidays...

Awroooooo!

 

 

 

 

Full Moon Faced

Here is a wise little elder helper totem before she was completed for the Spirit Doll class in the online Wishstudio Playgroup, which posts on the 27th of this month. Contact Mindy if you missed the boat on this. Miles and I had SO much fun making them together! The video summary is how we finished up the offering. I think he did very well for his first time as what seemed like gig as a talk show host.

 

Interview & Workshop

Lauren has posted an interview with yours truly here. So grateful she took the time to ask fun questions! Thank you, LL.

Registration has opened at Wishstudio for her new online lovechild, online art playgroup! This is going to be so much fun- she's made it super affordable and lined up some wonderful artists to make creating with the babes an inspiring Fall treat. I'll be teaching my Spirit Dolls workshop with Miles, in which we will walk you through the forest collecting "supplies" and then show you how to assemble a beautiful little totem representing aspects you and your child love to share.

Come play!

Road School

 

The Tiki Ti is about to get a little makeover as she readies her sails and points coastward in the month of August. I have to make curtains to go over the little bamboo rods and she needs a major cleaning. I think it may be time for vintage hula boobie girl to retire as an indoor knick-knack.

My curiosity is getting the best of me and I have to know something. Which for me means that I have to do it. Rather than read every book on the subject and do lots of research, what generally works best for me is Julia Cameron's "leap and the net will appear" theory.

What I'm talking about is the idea I have in my head to take the kids roadtripping instead of Miles first year of Kindergarten (which would begin Fall '11). My thought is that we can explore native cultures, native plants, create a field guide from our findings, include plenty of local food, and spend a good part of a homeschooling year traveling. It is my dream to travel my children. It is so important to me that they get to experience the wonders of the American landscape well before they are grown up and have little time to fit in a trip a year!

I have a year to explore, have conversations with you who homeschool, a year to plan destinations, create strategies to keep them calm and cool in the car while dealing, no doubt with flat tires, and all manner of roadside bummers. I have one full year to find those who have done it and lived to tell about it. I have a calendar to practice hitching up, pulling in, squeezing out, parking her at a grocery store lot, keeping the right food on hand, and what to do when bears come knocking.

Basically, learning to be the girl scout I've always wanted to be.

I want to offer my wild children a different path. I want to show them and teach them about their environments and the soil. I want to see them surf the Great Mother and learn to speak the language of the plants, stones and animals.

 

Bow To The King

The Sun King, that is. We're setting out to make sunny side up eggs on corn tortillas, gather yarrow and lavender to make hair circlets, pick plums and make tarts, and salute the sun today...ending in a big fire in the backyard pit tonight.

Happy Solstice to you!

Gratitude + Play Tent Tipi #2

This is Rad Playtent Number Two, which I adapted for a preschool project for the school auction this past weekend. I busied myself in the sewing room until FIFTEEN minutes before it was ready to leave to set the thing up and then we realized that at the taller height, the uvc poles flexed and totally did not work. My dad jumped in and saved the day with steel conduit pipe from his hardware store and we were on our way.

The piece sold for $220 which was so thrilling for our class. Miles teacher's vision each year is for the class project to have the mark and name of every child on it, so another mama and I decided to let them handprint some jeans pockets and then stuff each of them with an outdoor themed toy like bubbles, jumpropes, etc. I am very proud of it.

This couldn't have been completed if not for the help of all of my family members. Brandon cut the giant pieces of canvas dropcloth, cut flag triangles, and helped set the tent up. He also engineered many of the changes we made from the last one. This one stands about nine feet tall.

My mom was onhand to watch cranky, coughing Ivy and sweet, coughing Miles several times as we hurriedly problem solved in the driveway!

This was truly a community project. It has lots of sweat, tears and tons of blood (damn pins) invested in it's seams.

Thank you, my peeps, for coming together for our awesome school.

There are many stories to tell about where we are at with the chronic issues with our health. But I'm going to save those for later in the week, when I've got some perspective. I hope to find some meaning in all of this. Today was a rough one, but we may be making some progress with a little surrender to western medicine. I'll report back to base in a couple of days...in the meantime, kiddies and I are taking another trip to the seashore to immerse our lungs in the salt air and attempt to breathe once and for all!

Easter Egg Diorama Tutorial

Amy of AllButtondUp requested instructions for this project, so here goes! These were so simple to make and Miles LOVED making them. One could get very fancy with the inside decorations, but we kept it simple in the interest of time and money. Let's see if I can keep this tutorial simple, which is the real challenge for me.

Step One: Mix 2 parts white glue and 1 part water in a paper plate and dip strips of paper (we used newspaper) in it then stick to a blown-up balloon in thin layers. We let each layer dry before layering on the next. We did two layers of newspaper and got up nice and close to the little balloon tie.

When it came time to layer on the colorful tissue paper, we decided to hang them up because the tissue paper was so thin, it kept sticking to the ramekins we'd had them resting in before. We took them down to layer on, then hung them up by ribbon from the light fixture to dry. We only did two layers of tissue because Miles was "ready to finish these things". 

Next, I drew a hole on the dried shell and then started to cut it with a steak knife and once I had about an inch, I switched to scissors. A craft knife would make me sound much more on top of my game here, but I'm choosing honesty. It was what was closest.

 

The balloon popped and made a lovely hissing sound as it pulled itself away from the walls of the glued inside, and I tugged on the ribbon a bit and out it came, leaving a hole at the top that I later glued a bit of tissue over.

After the holes were cut, we crumpled smallish bits of tissue and glued them around the opening to hide the steak-knifed, rough bits and to pretty it all up with some detail. I love how it sort of looks like little blossoms. It was during this step that I realized I could have begun the decoupaging with colored tissue and would not be seeing newsprint inside my work of art! But you choose...

Here is M's.

And here are our finished dioramas, you can see that Miles packed his with bubble gum eggs! as well as his Peep:

I took a bit of time to talk about eggs and rabbits and their significance during this time of year. I'm pretty sure Miles could recount the stories, but I also know he was obsessively jonesing for some Peeps while trying to be polite.

Thank you for indulging me here today with our little craft! I hope you enjoyed it.

Squam Squam Squam

Photo by Thea Coughlin.

You've heard it a million times, right? From all of us Squam bombs out here in blogland? It's becoming like a religious pilgrimage, isn't it?

One of the many aspects I love about SAW is how a good retreat booked far in advance can really set the tone for my year and help me to keep my pace steady as I grow creatively. I feel like it gives me something to reach my branches toward, and to take the steps I need to get to where I'm going before I arrive on the rocky steps of the Temple of the Creative Forest.

Rockywold Deephaven Camps, where SAW is held, was founded by two women, who I believe must have intuitively sensed the feminine, creative quality of the camps. Men who come to SAW at RDC seem very in touch with the creative vitality within them. Women who attend seem to be answering the natural, inner call to connect to that creative life-force inside. Children (okay, Miles is the only example I really have!) go positively into an artistic trance once they pick up on what is going on.

The camp is even shaped quite like a womb, the perfect place to plant the seeds of your creative intention and watch them take off into the sky on unfurled wings.

When I attended two years ago, I only knew that I was called to go, I had no idea what I'd be doing in the next couple of years. Ivy was cocooning in my belly and I was intent on not making any big plans or designing expectations I wouldn't be able to meet. What I did do was connect. I communed with new and old friends in my pregnant state and allowed myself to be without a purpose other than being present there. I trusted that the meaning of it would come to me when it was supposed to.

It was January a year ago when it hit me. I picked up the paintbrush, dusty with art school years behind me, and in a burst of fertile flames I began painting with no idea about what I would do next.

What came through felt like, and still does, a culmination of everything I love the most. The concepts of symbols I'd been studying, the circles I'd been sitting in, the animals running across my paths and through my dreams, color chips that had been taped into journals...it suddenly all made sense and all I could do was MAKE. I was freed from thinking about it!

A little aperture was giving way to a great opening, I'd become willing to embrace the unknown and allow my creative stirrings and the muse meet each other.

I realized during that winter transition how Squam Art Workshops had impacted me. It's creative energy gently held me that first Fall, never forcing the birth, just cradling the energy. I hadn't planned on attending this past Fall, but when Ivy was just two months old, I felt the urgent need to be there, and so the pioneering efforts to make the trek with the whole family were laid.

After the new sessions were announced last week, a unique opportunity arose for me to teach at The Pixie Session in August. Like so many times since I took myself to that maple and white pine wood, I have been summoned to show up and share something of myself.

I'll be teaching a mixed-media painting class which incorporates the use of animal totems, as well as a kids-and-parents class where we'll make forest floor finds/fiber arts folk full of symbols to carry back home with you and draw upon when you need it. I'm so excited to do this with families that my heart is about to burst!

My hope is that you will be able to experience what Squam has provided me with:  a well of creative energy and connected communal peeps to feed your soul with all year long, building the foundation and support for your artistic life.

In whatever glorious form it may take.

Wild Thing

My little Wild Thing is 4 today. We are going out to search for lemon cake with lemon frosting with caramel poured over the top, at his request. He has also suggested we eat lunch at his favorite creamery, followed by dinner at his favorite Mexican food restaurant- where deep fried bananas and ice cream will be his dessert of choice. He has a plan. He always has.

Squam Family Robinson

The Campbells at SAW, by Thea Coughlin.

This is me. This is my family. We operate mostly as a package deal. Partly this is because I dislike being away from them for long periods of time and partly because when I agreed to marry my husband 13 years ago it was on the condition that we would pioneer our way through our life together, breaking new ground and forging through unknown territories.

We've been called "hard-core" by many of our friends because we are known for pushing conventional limits as we create the sort of experiences we want to share as a family. Like flying eight month old Miles to Maui and driving ourselves several hours into the rain forest to photograph him nudie on the black sand beaches of Hana. Encouraging him to feast on poi and fresh mangoes, climbing volcanic cliffs with him in a backpack, so we could live to tell the tale!

I don't know if traveling with both children makes us hard-core or not, though we do get a lot of comments about how brave we are to saddle them up for every ride we feel compelled to go on. Sometimes I feel that if I want to do something bad enough, I just have to make it work with them!

Taking the kids (and my husband, for that matter!) into retreat space felt really good to commit to, and it also felt risky. I wondered during the planning stage if it made good sense to bring them to Squam, where the cabins are cozy, but get a bit cold for our my west coast bones. Would they get sick? Would they unravel on me every half hour? Would it  stretch them beyond their capacity to enjoy themselves? What felt safe was not what won the debate. I am surely one to leap now and say "Oh, shit" later.

I melted down the night we arrived because we pulled in late- just after registration, located the dining hall, scarfed food in a rush and set out to find our invisible private cabin on the lake. About 20 minutes into that "adventure" Ivy took a monster poop and my anxiety level began to rise. I finally made Brandon get out on foot with a tiny flashlight and the RDC map to find the cabin. It was dark and cold upon entering, not to mention a bit stinky from fresh baby poo. It took me ten minutes of opening every door in the place to find the bathroom, because of course, I was about to peep myself.

Once we got settle in, forced open a bottle of wine, lit up the fire (that the attendants at the camp lovingly arrange wood for) and sank into twin rocking chairs, it was bliss. The loons were calling and the lake was swishing and it was pure magic.

I'll be posting my must-pack list later on, but this will give some initial insight into what pampered camping 3000 miles from home was like for us. This is sort of the quick and dirty reality, and not the flowery prose I hope to write about my children as I continue to process what the week meant for me.

These notes are meant to remind me of what I need to consider when we ALL attend next year, but it is dedicated to all of those who have commented that we did it gracefully. Behind the scenes was not as polished as it may have appeared in the amber glow of the heavenly dining hall! But I still consider it a huge success and we will be doing it again next Fall.

Rule #1. Even if it is your birthday, do not lollygag on the way to Squam with children in tow. Arrive as early as the handbook says you can and get settled in. This way, you won't miss the coveted bonfire and cry for twenty minutes about how its your birthday and you missed the bonfire.

Rule #2. Bring wine to help with missed bonfires and other mild disappointments. I brought an acrylic wine glass in my suitcase, yet forgot a corkscrew. An unexpected in-room amenity, an icepick, got us through. Once cozied in front of a giant fire (that coincidentally kept the bathroom nice and toasty with it's shared chimney wall), I was totally okay that I wasn't freezing my pahtoot off out in the wilderness.

Rule #3. Pack Rescue Remedy and your very best relationship skills. That means no blaming Brandon for mishaps. (sorry, honey.)

Rule #4. Know what triggers grumpiness in you and be sure to pack creature comforts to remedy that (such as an electric tea kettle, which I did not bring this time). I found that allowing myself to melt down from the initial excitement and overwhelm was a good clearing out that allowed me to relax for the rest of my time there.

Rule #5. If you plan to take classes, be sure to allow Daddies some time to go for a mountain bike ride (the camp rents them), kayaking, guitar playing time, or whatever he loves to do. Scheduling time for everyone to get filled up is a must, because at Squam, time has a way of slipping away very quickly. Dads can also take classes, too, if they want to enroll! Squam is an equal opportunity retreat.

Rule #6. Even if it means you have to get a funny tattoo on your wrist before you attend Squam, be certain to pack your sense of humor. Mistakes and setbacks are likely to happen with the kiddies. When I laughed through them, I thrived. When I pained through them, I suffered.

Rule #7. Be willing to sacrifice your plans if you have a child that has met his limit. Even if that means carrying him screaming out of the dining hall sideways and letting your breakfast go cold (thank you, kind woman who hurried to open the door for me). Being flexible has never been more important. Surrendering expectations that they will love every moment of it is unrealistic, even if your child loves nature, has plenty to do, is warm enough, etc. Sometimes kids can feel torn about being out of their routine and being on an exciting adventure-its stressful for them. Miles (just shy of 4 years old) had a few moments like this, but mostly, he was his charming, wise self. He totally imprinted the creative part of the experience-spending hours on detailed drawings and making his own artistic leaps. I did well when I cut him much slack.

Rule #8. Resist the temptation to put the kids down later than usual. All of the excitement, plus early breakfast times means well-rested babes are happier during the day. Especially those naughty things that don't take naps anymore! Vendor night was challenging for Dad and two overstimmed sleepies. I walked into pure chaos after we put our table away Saturday night. A better plan might have been to have my table buddy take over while I helped get them down and then I could have returned shortly thereafter.

Rule #9. Bring your favorite phrases that lighten things up in your family, such as "Oops", "No biggie", and "It's going to be okay". I'm a classic over reactor so I actually have to prepare to under react when things don't go as planned! It takes practice, for me, anyway. One day I started off for class and realized I needed to sit down and nurse Ivy before I left for 3 hours. Being late creates all kinds of anxiety for me. I had to remember that at Squam, self-care rules. What's good for you is generally what's good for everyone, in my experience. Everyone was very understanding and accommodating, and that really helped. 

Rule #10. Leave lots of open time for the unknown and for yourself. I'm glad I only booked two days of classes and not three-which tempts me every time, because there are so many great classes. We took Thursday to take family portraits and get ourselves acquainted with our surroundings. It was perfect. 

It was all blessed and perfect!

Ivy and Daddy at SAW, by Thea Coughlin.