{this moment}
Joining the sweet and lovely Soul Mama for this moment
Women are, in my view, natural peacemakers. As givers and nurturers of life, through their focus on human relationships and their engagement with the demanding work of raising children and protecting family life, they develop a deep sense of empathy that cuts through to underlying human realities.
Daisaku Ikeda
We made a trip out to AZ for the Epic Eden Hot Springs retreat.
Eden Hot Springs is a truly magical!
We met so many wonderful people, ate great raw food, swam in the hot springs, drank warm Chaga tea under the waxing moon..it was epic!
Sacred space
Magic being created on the Mesa
The love light lounge was serving up a variety of amazing Chaga drinks, green smoothies and raw chocolates. We spent a lot of our time here..ha ha!
Sunset date with Mama:))
Happy Girl
Eden Hair
Rainbow Wolf
They loved every second in those hot springs.
They are great folks and I really love the music they are creating!
There were many classes available, lots of things for us to learn. Among the classes offered were three two hour lectures with David Wolfe which I really, really enjoyed.
Doug Simmons was there. I joined him on a herb walk and also listened to him teach on Natural tooth care (amazing!!!) He is wonderful and a true gift to the earth.
My little earth warrior
Real Pixie dust and love being sent our way by the incredible crew at Eden.
Our family needed this time to reconnect.
She stopped pretending and finally allowed herself to walk around in the world as she honestly was. Feelings of relief and peacefulness overwhelmed her. She had set herself free. -Queenisms
We celebrated the release of my book last night to the sound of The Waxing moon and the joy & laughter of souls young and old discovering natures magic and healing…it was a beautiful evening!
Enchanted Cedar: The Journey Home
Ps. Drink your Chaga
My 80 year old Mimi Joan all the Way from Long Island signing for Whimsal
I love you, Joanie!
My sweet friend Josh and his biggest fan:)
Music created by people who had never met and all happened to have instruments in the car and who all happened to sound AMAZING together…. LOVE IT!!
Juniper
” I think you started something, my daughter now thinks Chaga is the best thing ever!” YES YES YES!!!!
The Chocolate Goddess reading part my book:) She did a fabulous job!
Here it is, if you would like to listen!
The Sacred art of Dancing with fire
The very end of Azar fire spinning
End of a great night!
“So somewhere right now, deep in The Birch Forest inside a little Barefoot Cottage, there are three elves and a fire spinning mouse. They are sitting around the fire drinking Chaga and telling stories about Hummingbird Hollow, Crystal River, The Enchanted Cedar, Mr.Owl, and that beautiful autumn night many moons ago, when they got lost in order to find a new friendship” ~ Enchanted Cedar: The Journey Home
I am grateful to everyone who shared this night with me, it was truly magical!
Sending love and a little “ordinary” magic your way!
Barefoot Mama
P.S Drink your Chaga!
Don’t allow the world to fill you with fear.
Surround yourself with light.
Listen
Calling all angels here to guide you, my sweet friends!
Barefoot Mama
“Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind.. the answer is blowin’ in the wind.” -Bob Dylan
Having young children gives us a window to our
souls that only comes once in a lifetime.
Today was a really rough mama day, we were all tired from a very long week and it amplified some behavioral issues & patience issues (on my part) that could stand for some improvement. The kids are in bed now and it’s given me time to really think deeply about my/our parenting style and choices.
ha ha! What a joke. How many books have been written on new and improved ways to discipline your child??
What if I don’t want to enforce obedience?
I have tried, seen and read about a thousand different ways to “perfectly” parent and have seen few things that really work on the heart of the child.
I could spank them, but that will only train them to do the things I disapprove of when I’m not looking. I can yell and scream and threaten, but they will lose their respect for me and I will only have “perfect” children on the surface because I have made them fear me…I will then only get to see who they really like when they break away and find their independence.
I could bribe them, but I know that won’t get me anywhere. I can shelter them and try to make sure they never see, hear or experience anything that isn’t as gentle and loving as I hope them to be, but the world is what it is and that will only last so long (unfortunately)
What it all comes down to for me, is their hearts and mine.
I had to stop and ask myself where are the issues stemming from.
If they are angry and they are being disrespectful, It’s a heart issue and there is no quick fix for the heart. I can force them to love, I can only show them by example.
I was going to retake this photo and thought “ha, that represents this today with an overtired three year old perfectly”
Kids are a mirror of us, if we look deep enough they will show us all the things in us that need a little work.
I don’t want to force my children to behave in order to please me, to impress other or make me look and feel like a “great” mom I want them to feel comfortable to be themselves so that I can help them and so that I can see and work on the ugly side of me that I see coming out in them.
To hell with discipline……let’s dig a little deeper than that.
Love you,
Barefoot Mama
It’s not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard
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My “magic in a bottle”
My hubby wanted a photo too:))
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Teaching the kids to eat what is growing around them.
I have had a long time goal of being able to forage and use what is growing in our yard. I also have a deep desire to learn quickly so that I can give that same gift to my children. It has been frustrating at times because there is so much I don’t know and so many plants I haven’t gotten to know yet.
The weather has been beautiful here lately so after Lucca’s bath the other day I asked if he would like to lay in the sun to dry.
While he was out there I guess he got hungry and I heard him call me, when I went out he had a little pile of herbs and flowers and he asked
“Mom, is this okay for a snack?” ~ Lucca (aka Tarzan:)
My heart literally leapt in a hundred different directions. He had picked rosemary, mint and dandelion flowers. I was so proud and so happy for him! He laid out in the sun eating his snack and I tried to leave him be and let him have that special moment to himself.
We have picked all of those things together and snacked many times, but he has never went and found them on his own.
This was a very exciting day for us!
~Barefoot Mama
My magic in a bottle
“Lucca, what is your spirit name?” ~Me
“Big Boy Flying Wolfe” ~ Lucca
YES!!! I love it!
4/3/13 Update: Today he says he’s Rainbow Fire Wolfe:))
What do you say when someone hands your child something you don’t want them to eat? What do you do when you want to bring your child to a party, but you know what kind of food they will be serving? What do you do when your child is looking at you with those sad about to cry eyes because all the other kids are eating that food and they can’t? what do you do when the other parents make comments to you and your kids about how ridiculous they think you are being for not allowing the kids to have at least something? It’s always “come on, just this once”
I used to give in and then we would make up for it at home, I would up the amount of good they were getting at home to combat the crap they were eating when we left the house.
I’M OVER IT!!
I’m okay with the kids being mad at me and all my extended family and friends thinking I’ve gone too far. Why? Because I love my kids too damn much to let them have the poison being offered to them.
We all have cancer cells, we are either feeding them or fighting them. If you look at me like I’m crazy when I tell you to back the hell off with that refined sugar-pesticide filled- GMO death cupcake you were about to hand my baby then apparently you are living in a different world than me. Maybe you haven’t lost anyone you love to cancer or had a brush with it yourself. Maybe you don’t care or maybe you are just in denial. Either way, go ahead and look at me like I’m crazy, mean or overprotective and I will give you the same answer I give everyone else
“Thank you, but no they cannot have that __ because I love them too much”
If you are the only one in your family or your community that really understands how serious this war with our food is, then I want you to know I GET IT TOO!
May you have courage and strength to do what you know is best for you and your family!
~Barefoot Mama
Overall I think sports in this Country especially has evolved into an enormous waste of time and precious energy. It’s an accepted excuse to spend countless hours in front of the TV to mask ALL the things we should be using our lives for that we don’t want to see.
That being said, I have a little one that has been begging to play since as long as I can remember. It’s so funny because none of us watch sports, talk about sports & we have hardly ever played any sports with them. We don’t even have a TV if we did want to watch a game.
When we were setting our family goals this year, as always we asked the kids to give us the one thing they felt strongest that they should learn this year.
Alayna again with the “all I want to do it play baseball”
ughh….NO. Why baseball??
I would have been comfortable if she said she wanted dreads or 3 days alone in the wilderness to see if she could survive. ha ha!
This was a real test for me as a parent to practice what I preach and let her do what her heart is calling her towards.
So here I was last night in my poncho, fighting everything in me not to run out onto the field and scream
“THIS IS INSANE”
But every time I would look over at her face lit up with excitement I would check myself.
To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~Josh Billings
Does this mean I’m going to put her in school the next time she asks, no, but I am going to check myself and make sure I’m not saying “No” because It’s really the best thing for her and not the best thing for me.
It’s not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard
I don’t have all of the answers, but I know being a parent for me has been about following my heart and being able to admit when I’m wrong.
Blessings to all of you on your journey,
Barefoot Mama
My “magic in a bottle”
All of my amazing family members and their awesome “hippie” selves at the game cheering for my baby girl (and occasionally laughing at all the stressed out parents..lol)
Aloha- To love is to share the happiness of the breath of life
We went for a hike today and then went swimming in the Ormus rich waters of Hawaii.
It was literally the best day ever!
Base of a beautiful Eucalyptus tree in Hawaii.
If ever fairies lived, they lived here.
So cold and so incredibly invigorating
Drinking water served as it should be, right from the rock
with my love
The only way to go if you can’t go Barefoot:))
Our peace stick made with the lovely Ti Leaves
“Haole” is what some locals in Hawaii call the outsiders like us. It means without the breath.
Hawaii we felt your breath of life and we hope you could felt ours.
Billy & Brooke
My brother finished reading Walden and has now decided to build himself a box house/cabin the size of a doll house to live in. ha ha! The thing is, he’s totally serious! He wants to live in his box and help tend the gardens for the next year.
Tarzan helping Uncle Cody build his new house:))
I walked out back to take pictures and take a few more jabs at Cody.
Cody are you serious? ~Me
Simplicity is beauty and beauty is simplicity ~Cody
I know, but come on, I think this is going too far~ Me
Are you sure you know? ~Cody
OUCH!!!
I spent so much time making fun of him this week and then I realized it’s because I’m a tiny bit envious of his courage. I have a feeling he is going to find a great deal of beauty and freedom in the simplicity of that little box house. I have had the courage in the past to live a simple life, but have lost a bit of my courage lately.
I truly want to simplify, but it’s so damn hard in this culture. Our world seems to revolve around consumption. It’s hard the older the kids get and the more of the world they become exposed to, to not give in to the lie that the “stuff” will make them happier people.
I have thought about those 5 words a lot this week. It was hard to hear, but needed. This week helping my brother (so wise for his age) has been a great reminder for me.
Here’s to fighting the current and holding onto our truths,
Barefoot Mama
