I was interviewed a while back for an article in an New Zealand crafting mag called Extra Curricular. (Which, by the way, has the delicious tag line For and about people getting creative with their spare time.) The writer, Annisa,  told me she would mail me a copy of it and for some reason I was envisioning a carefully hand stapled collection of print outs from Staples and then kind of forgot about it until the gushy surprise of opening up my mailbox last week and this sweet little number jumped out.

I brought the little tangible read over to my mastermind group (more on this juicy aspect of my life later) for show and tell and we, all being of the same nerd variety, were ooooing and aaaaing over the quality of the print and the intimate size of the publication. We all even took turns stroking and snorting the pages because it has that ‘good quality book’ smell and texture. Love it!

An extra bonus was not only that they selected the picture of me and Miss Daisy doing our now infamous ‘Madonna and Britanny Spears kiss on stage’ but also I have the honor of sharing the spotlight in the article with Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess.

Whoa.

I’ve taken a many an online course with these ladies so I did a little happy dance when opening to that particular page. The article itself explores the phenomena of online courses and how to spot the good ones (hee, hee) and just how much fun and convenient they are to participate in.

A sweet quote from the article that you can kinda see up there is you squint:

Two of my favourite late night crafty blog stops offer ecourses… Some e-courses are moneymaking endeavors pure and simple… The good ones, like Kathy, Emma and Elsie’s, you pay for but were created with love to meet demand.

Yes, I do make my ecourses with love!

This article is genius with its insight. And about my Sewing Mama ecourse:

Kathy guides you through the making of seasonal staples for your spring or fall wardrobe and the sewing process is eased by the priceless gift of Kathy’s quirky sense of humour and ebullient self.

And she also mentions my ebook with these kind words:

The Bliss Filled Mama … gives a good dose of crafty wisdom to those also juggling craftiness and kidlets.

My head’s so big re-reading that right now that the headset I sport in the mornings so I can’t hear the Craiglettes crying that they’re hungry while I blog and enjoy my morning latte can barely fit.

And speaking of ecourses made with more love to meet the demand than you can shake a stick at, registrations are now open and filling quickly for the Simplicity Parenting ecourse which begins June 1st.

With this lovingly crafted ecourse I plan on delivering the priceless gift of humor and ebullience while walking you through the steps toward a more peaceful and simplified family life. With these principles creatively instilled I bet you will find the same side effect I found in my own simplicity enhanced home life; more precious time and space for mama to enjoy the Extra Curricular Activity of her own choosing. (Headset not included.)

I had a pretty sweet day yesterday. We started a new tradition here last year for Mother’s Day that I love. We all go out for breakfast but they meet me there. I hop on my bike (Little Prozac) and arrive just as my eggs benny land on the table.

Yesterday, the morning air had just enough crispness in it to allow me to sport my new cowl I just knit off the needles without looking like a crazy lady. It took a skein of my handspun and kept my throat chakra lovingly swaddled as I careened down the rails to trails screaming when getting spooked by giant crows flying out of  bushes tricking me to thinking they’re bears while listening to the screamingly hilarious Tina Fey autobiography, Bossypants on my ipod.

And speaking of high alert, after breakfast I rode back home, still screaming, while the kids and Craig continued on to a climbing adventure that I didn’t want to know anything about (I was milking the bliss factor out of ignorance ) and made myself a bullet proof coffee. I even whipped up a how to video for this adventurous coffee terrain if you dare want to trek there.

It can be pretty much summed up in three words; espresso, butter, massive bed head. Oh my.

So the secret to drinking the bullet proof is to drink it quickly and be on ready stance immediately after consumption because you are going to be

filled to the brim with some creative energy!

Finding myself in an empty house with an elevated heart rate I knew I had to do something that will feel incredibly productive but would naturally lend itself toward a crafty project of some sorts.

Switching up our winter for spring wardrobe was a safe bet.

This one is tricky to pull off with the munchkins around. Mine have a tendency to get nostalgic over every single sock so it’s best to play this game when I’m alone and can be ruthless. I also was able to tackle on my own wardrobe while muttering the mantra:

“keep it simple, keep it simple”

as I envisioned my future self opening up her closet with a selection of items that consisted of stuff I would actually wear! What a concept.

I was also taking mental notes of what was missing in my wardrobe essentials. Primarily the lack of panties spoke to the Mrs Cunningham in me, long sleeve tops spoke to the easily chilled me and as I unearthed the maxi dress I made from the spring/summer stash the backwoods fashionista in me recalled how much I’m loving this trend and how I want more.

I got inspired to turn the rest of my Mother’s day to myself into a craft up my spring 2012 wardrobe.

Because of my mommy time clock ticking and the bullet coffee kicking in (it’s a creeper by the way) I felt myself kicking into a creative overwhelm.  Like my tires were spinning. What I found has been helping me out with this phenomena lately is to switch up my creative outlets by drawing stuff out. So I quickly sketched out what would be fun basics to add to my wardrobe mix, keeping in mind stuff that would be easy to sew or I had the patterns at the ready for.

To help inspire me too I took a quick visit to my pinterest boards of looks I was drawn to (ha, ha) for spring all winter long.

And after the sketching and colouring I sifted through my sewing pattern stash and pulled out the projects that best matched my doodling. And without thinking again too much about it, I picked a project, starting cutting and got a healthy head start before the troops came home; one crying from falling in the lake and the other from sugar overload.

But in that state of bliss from a Mama day well spent I wasn’t too bothered. I just saw it as all the better reason to get them to bed a little earlier than usual so Craig, Angel and I can cuddle on the coach and watch an extra episode of Sopranos before it was time to hit the hay ourselves.

How about you? Did you get some Mother’s day bliss squeezed in you want to share? Do you too find it hard to decide what to do yourself when the whole house is your oyster? Oooo! Let me know too if you try out that coffee recipe. Sounds gross but it’s surprisingly delicious!

Happy Mother’s Day my sweet kisses!

This is my new favorite place to go for ecards. Lately I’m on the kick of sending some to myself with cheeky affirmations to remind me of how rad I am. And speaking of rad, I got the best idea presented to me from a sweet bloggy friend of mine (who I’m hoping really hard she’ll be swinging by these neck of the woods this summer for a visit!) She found a similar offer on Fimby and suggested I copy-Kath it. So here I go!

If you purchase a copy of my ebook The Blissed Filled Mama: Self Care for Soulful Mothering, you not only get your audio and ebook download made available but email me and I’ll send a copy of each to a lovely mama friend of yours who could use an extra dose of bliss this weekend for free! The goods will be delivered to your lady friend’s email inbox via one of these ecards ~ you tell me which one.

Simply email me after your purchase with your friend’s email address and say if you want Hitman mom, Childproofed mom, Go Away Mom or, the sweet and safe…

No Better Place Mom. And if you’re blessed with so many friends you just can’t decide who to give it to then simply make another purchase, let me know and I’ll send two more ecards out to two more friends for you. Problem taken care of!

Hope you have a lovely Sunday and be sure to send yourself an ecard telling yourself what a rad mom you are.

This weekend the whole family got struck with the stomach flu that’s making its way around these parts. Luckily I was spared so I was able to provide the crew with loads of nourishing hot liquids and basically keep the home fires burning (and cow milked, chickens alive, garden watered, corralling a steer off the road etc.).

To do tasks were kept to the absolute minimum but I found myself missing the little extravagances that bring the charmed aspects of our day to day lives. Namely, dessert making. It’s like if I can afford the time to make dessert,  and the kids are up for asking what’s for dessert, all is well.

But no dessert was asked for for a few days. That made me uncomfortable for a bit. Brace yourself. I’m going to be totally transparent here;

I’m not one of those calm, cool, collected moms.

I know, I know. That comes as such a shocker. But upon first indication of the sickies, be it a funny sounding cough, those preemptive words “Mama, my tummy feels weird”, I get anxious. Usually have to high tail it to the bathroom because I get this squirt of adrenaline that just seems to, um, kick start things.

I remember calling my mom when Edie was two, crying because I was sick myself with worry when it seemed for a bout one winter she was getting one illness after another and asking her; does this get easier? I think I recall her saying no for I remember thinking, “couldn’t she at least humor me and said yes?” but she’s right in a way. I still have that charming adrenaline reaction and with that, my imagination goes crazy. But I kick into my nurse mode and let outside obligations fall to the wayside and in some aspects, things do get a bit easier.

But this time around I got myself a little helper. We’ve had the pup now for about a month and a half and this bout with the plague had really cemented his sweetness factor into our hearts. He was pretty much glued to Edie’s side all weekend. When she was kind of tired of his affections she would try to pry him off her and you could see his little legs stiffen in an attempt to show his determination not to leave his love patient all alone on the couch.

But you know how it is sometimes when you’re illin’ (a nod to the passing of MCA ~ blessings) at some points you just need your space. I helped her out after these pictures were taken. Just had to capture the cuddly loyalty at play here. And for real, this little pup was a huge help to me this weekend contending with my moments of anxiety.

Something about his energy helped me keep things in perspective.

I’m sensitive to things like that. It was almost like I had a little helper to remind me to choose trust and love over fear. What an Angel.

And as I type this I here Kale ask Edie in the sweetest tone (this house is very open concept and so there are no conversations left un-overheard. Perfect for a morning blogging mama);

Are you feeling better?

And quietly, but strongly comes the answer; ‘yes’. And an hour later as I come around to editing this piece I hear giggling and a report that a  bowl of oatmeal with bananas was eaten. And I feel a beautiful, soft, warm relief settle over my heart. Kind of the size and weight of a baby wiener dog. It does get easier Mom.

I took this picture last year when I was in peak cheese production mode. Daisy had just had her calf (it was sweet Meatball’s birthday on Saturday ~ happy birthday little guy!) so we were swimming in gallons of milk from her ‘freshening’ and I was on an exciting but exhausting and steep learning curve on how to deal with such creamy abundance.

I made loads of cheddar blocks like the one you see up above but sadly, only one survived. The mold overtook our cheese. And not in a delicious, fancy way. More like at the end of the school year in a frat house way.

Luckily we got to enjoy one successful batch at a friends’ who have just returned from France so we had a Provence party ~ our cheese, baguettes and wine. Pretty much what Craig and I survived on our budget trip to Paris ten years ago.

So this method is what I’m leaning on heavily now that we are surprisingly finding ourselves swimming in a sea of milk once again. At least what’s considered a sea for Daisy (not the hugest producer, but just right for us; a family whose half its members are milk sensitive). When I have time to focus again I’m going to research the cheddar mystique and see what I can tweak to make it happen (pointers would be appreciated!).

Daisy is due to have a baby again in August so I thought she was suppose to be naturally drying off but I guess not. It seems like on Meatball’s birthday on Saturday  I’ve really been noticing how much effort Daisy’s been using to wean the big boy. Or perhaps it’s the warmer weather. Either way, I’m welcoming the huge head of cream we got going on. Extra creamy lattes happening over here and not to mention I’m stock piling on grass fed butter. Yum!

And speaking of yum, thank you all who answered my survey questions from last week. My heart is so full with the love from the glowy feedback and the lovingly put honesty. I thank you all so much! I’m super excited that with this feedback I can help make your visit here as fun as possible and I kind of feel like you all swung by for a quick swig of espresso and chit chat. Kind of like a speed date!

Among the more popular feedback I got many of you have expressed your preference for comments option being put back on and so, if I can figure out how to do this (I’m new to WordPress, yo), I’ll put comments back on and see how that feels. And another  tidbit of feedback I got was you miss the videos!  I’ll be sure to get back on the Monday video posts. I love making them too in case you can’t tell. Cheese is my thing!

Good morning to you all. Off of to a spring play Edie’s taking part in. Wish her luck! Happiest of May days and thank you so much to all of you who filled out the survey from last post. I truly appreciate it! xo!

Not to get too cocky but a nice source of bliss is learning the principles of simplicity in parenting and how to implement into your sweet family. Simplicity Parenting ecourse starts June 1st. Rooster not included.

I found this pattern over at Tiny Owls and had to resist from the option to buy all her patterns for only $50; they’re all the cute!

My knitting seasonal clock is a little off this year.

Just haven’t been able to get my knitting groove on all winter long until just recently. But thanks to my Peruvian blood I get chilled easily so that the massive cowl I’m currently whipping up will still serve its purpose when it’s done in probably two months from now at the peak of summer.

So now that I’m finally done my deer hat I was questioning my project pick; a forty one year old woman wearing a hat with deer ears and antlers fused on to it?

But my deer friend Erin said “cheer up Buck-aroo” and reminded me about where it is that we live and, yeah, I should blend in alright in these parts. I just might want to think about sporting a bright orange vest like the pattern suggests closer to hunting season.

So I have a favour to ask you all; I want to feel you out. No, not up. Out.

I’d like to know how Bliss Beyond Naptime can be a sweeter bloggy visit for you.

As you may notice from my spanky new look here I’m taking BBN in a new direction and my goal is to make this stop on your morning blogging commutes the best possible experience it can be and I’m wondering how I can best use my Super Deer Woman powers and help you out the best ways possible!

So here I have a sweet and venison question to ask of you.

Would you be a deer, and fill out this quick little survey?

Should only take two secs. Promise and thank you!!!

Click here to take survey

PS

Enjoy this outtake shot the second after I noticed I’ve been pretty much standing on top of a live snake during the whole photo shoot. Yeesh.

There ya go. Okay, go take that survey now! Thank you my deers. xo

It was the first official weekend of hunkering down on this little project known as gardening and manifesting all these winter dream projects for our land. Part of the fun of coming up for a vision for seven acres of bliss is allowing space for sweet surprises and Craig just so happened to plant one of these for me in the form of hanging a hammock chair from the middle of our teepee at the tip of the kitchen garden.

Sweet reading spot I thought to myself. But the kids thought different. Right away they took turns spinning each other to the point of pukes while I dove into my kind of fun called playing in the dirt and trying to keep the pup and chickens from doing as I do.

I was in my home body glory this weekend.

The weather was perfect for transplanting the starts; cloudy and then raining just as we hit the hay. I fell asleep listening to that lulling sound of pitter patter against metal roofing thinking about my happy baby broccoli in their new outdoor home. But it was  sunny enough on Saturday for sunshine fun and pink enough faces to have me start to fret about leaving the house without a tube of sunscreen on hand.

I just loved staying on our property and bringing into fruition our dream of raising our children in such a vibrant community and having the time to live this slow, made from scratch life I find so delicious and nourishing.

It was like the whole weekend was a big golden moment.

What was especially alive in my mind was how golden this moment is for not only for me but for my children as well. How this pace is in alignment with the values I’ve been holding in my heart these last couple of years.  And as much as I try to stay in the moment when surrounded by the fresh beauty of this time of year my mind always seems to find itself floating off about half a year into the future when we will be revisiting another major life decision again; our child’s education.

I have been homeschooling Edie happily now for three years but lately there has been a pull in both our hearts to take this journey in a different direction. We tried out a homeschooling enrichment program after the winter holidays due to her subtle and not so subtle pinings for more than I felt I was able to provide.

Talk about feeding the bear. And her mama.

So now Edie’s had a taste of group learning. And she loves this three times a week event. She loves her little seven kid class which is Waldorf-based,  with quite possibly the best class one teacher on Earth. Nice and gentle for my sweet, shy girl ~ just the way I like it.

And truth be told, I’m kind of excited about the projects this frees me up to dip my fingers into and I have the mental space to dream up loads more bits of my soul to share with with you some day.

But we’re at an interesting cross roads now. This set up is not sustainable. Too much driving. Too much time away from our little town we love and a home-centered rhythm that’s crucial for Kale at this age. In short, as lovely and almost perfect this set up is, it’s not in alignment with our values and ideals.

But it came to us at the perfect time. Perhaps it served its purpose as a transitional step for Edie to explore the world outside our strawbale walls.

This time of year is typically the time of year I’m usually calling the Waldorf education consultants and asking them what their opinion is on homeschooling, the primary needs to be met at this age, lesson plans and such. But this year I’m going to consult  with my own heart and lean on our core values instead.

I will use this golden moment I experienced this weekend as a reminder of why we moved to this magical valley so long ago. Way before Edie was but a whoops. I mean a dream.

There are so many choices they we are truly blessed to have when it comes to our children’s education (and even quite the selection for such a tiny mountain community when it comes to actual bricks and mortar schools; including a really progressive thinking alternative school) that it can get kind of crazy making when deciding what route to take.

I remember when Edie was just a toddler and a sweet friend lent me The Teenage Liberation Handbook  and I started obsessing:

Imagine how cool I’d be today if I would have been unschooled.

And then the same narcissistic thoughts entered my seasonal verses-laden head when researching Waldorf education:

Imagine how cool I’d be right now if I would have been Waldorf educated.

And then similar thoughts when I conjured up the hybrid of what felt right for Edie at the time; homeschooling and Waldorf education.

Parenting, with all the issues and  important decisions it raises, is really the ultimate creative exercise and very much like a contact dance with all this intimate, slinky falling and catching gestures.  I’m not sure at the moment how this is going to unfold in the fall but I”ll do what I feel is best in my heart.

So if you can imagine:

How cool would I be today if my parents did what they felt, in that moment, what was best in their own hearts?

Wait a minute, they did. So I guess I’m pretty much at my fullest cool potential. Darn.

Want to reach your maximum cool capacities? Or at least check in with your current parenting values and learn strategies to lead a life more in line with them? Check out my Simplicity Parenting Ecourse sign up page for details on this four week course coming up in June. Last day to do so for early bird special!  And f you’d like to hear the introductory call session I held this weekend and explore a golden moment from your own childhood just follow this link to listen to the recording!