My Blog Is Moving - Come With Me!

*****Edited to Add:  If you are trying to follow my new blog on Feedly or BlogLovin' - please try to use the URL:  erikafinn.com

I hope that helps and thanks again!!!!!

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Well - I didn't mention it, but a few months ago, my URL - theurthmama.com -  was STOLEN by a not so very nice person, and I lost most of the readers of this blog.  Pretty much everyone who followed me or linked to my blog was gone.  Plus, all my backlinks got broken as a result.

Stolen is a harsh word - because it was my fault, actually. I accidentally forgot to renew my domain name, and then someone swooped it up the day it expired. Then that person tried to sell it back to me for $5,000.

That ain't happenin'! ;-)

Luckily, I already owned the similar url: urthmama.com (Please click on it, like it, follow it, and LOVE  it - haha!)

Urthmama.com is the same thing, just without THE at the front). I hadn't been using the Urthmama.com url - but then I decided, hey...why not!


So, anyway - this is all a long winded way to say that I'm blogging in a NEW spot now.

 I decided to do a redesign of my blog last week, and one thing led to another...and after all was said and done, I'd gone and switched to Wordpress. I'm still not sure how I accomplished it at all, but it's been VERY exciting for me!

I'll still be blogging about family - but this new site will give me room to blog about other topics, too. I want to talk about homeschooling, gentle parenting, thriving after loss, healthy eating, and more.

So, please please please join me over at my new spot at: Urthmama.com - (if you're still reading this, you are QUITE a faithful reader!)

I already have a few new posts up - Yay!!! :-)

I'm On Facebook Now!

Well, I've gone and done it! I've made a Facebook Page for my blog. I never thought I'd do it - but I caved! Ha!

If you're on Facebook, you can connect with me HERE!

(Or you can just click that Facebook Badge on the sidebar!)

Hope you're having a great Labor Day Weekend!  Grandma Pat is here and I might get a date night tonight!  Yay!!! (triple exclamation points...)

In other news, this was the sunset on my walk the other night.  Love these warm summer nights!




The End.

Week In Review!

I can't believe it's already Friday!  We've had a very full, busy week.  Over the weekend, we went to The Wilderness Park.  I tried to get Mr. M to take a cute picture of me with the girls - and well, he tried!  But he can only do so much!  Ha! The top picture is the best one...

This one is good but Ginger's not looking at all:




In this one, everyone is happy...well, except for Violet!





I love this picture of Ginger and Paprika.  They truly are the best of friends!



Violet explored the whole park, of course!  In her swimsuit, no less!  (She insisted on wearing it - it's Paprika's size 6T!)



Paprika and Ginger's favorite log - they call this The Iguana:




 Here is a picture from WAY back when (September 2010 - almost three years ago!) of the two of them on the same log:





And here they are three years later:





Ginger hanging out with the ducks:




The girls had a great time watching this birdie...a Great Blue Heron?:



I love letting them explore:





The rest of our week has been busy, as well!  On Monday, Devon came over with her girls. Our house was full and loud for about 9 hours (we don't live as close as we used to, so Devon stayed late to avoid rush hour!)

I love that after not seeing each other for months, the girls pick right back up where they left off.  Even Violet was in the mix, and was so happy to just tag along with the big girls.  It was a magical day - it always is when we get together with Devon!

The girls made lemonade from our lemon tree in the backyard.  They fixed Devon and me lunch and served it to us on fancy plates.  They tried to make a hot air balloon in the backyard.  I was worried that because we have so few toys now that the girls would be bored - but OH MY, they were not!  Their imaginations were on overdrive all day long.  Love it!

This week was also the beginning of the public school year here - on Wednesday, Paprika would have been in 1st grade! Intstead, she happily spent the day finishing up her Third Grade math curriculum, reading lots of books, playing outside, and well...not waking up at the crack of dawn! Ha!


Ginger has been working hard on HER homeschooling, too! I am not pushing her AT ALL - instead, I often find her looking over Paprika's shoulder as she is reading, doing math, writing, etc. It seems like it all rubs off on Ginger.



Yesterday, I found Ginger working on some Algebra apps on the iPad and getting ALL the answers right. She amazes me - her strong-will and her smarts are going to take her far, I just know it!




Paprika had her end of the summer Swim Team Party tonight!  Mr. M took her - and she got her first trophy (for participation).  It was really sweet!  I stayed home with Violet and Ginger - and Paprika got to have her one on one time with her daddy.  She felt so special!


We spent a good chunk of today at the park.  After Paprika finished her lessons early, we had the whole afternoon free.  That is one of the things I love about Homeschooling!  This is Ginger during our Hide and Go Seek game today:



Violet was my little helper in Hide and Go Seek.  Violet LOVES being at the park - and asks to go all the time!  She is talking so much more now, and I love it!  I can actually understand much of what she says - and it's so helpful to me!

Her favorite thing right now is Jessie from Toy Story.  Everything is Jessie, Jessie, Jessie!  She has a Toy Story Sippy Cup - and that's her favorite thing to carry.  She has Jessie and Woody dolls - and they hardly ever leave her side.  I even went out to the garage into the bags of stored toys (I still haven't brought them inside!) - and I unearthed Buzz Lightyear!  She was over the moon with joy about seeing Buzz!

(But I soon regretted that decision because Buzz Lightyear is one obnoxious toy! Ha!)


Violet also does this with her hands when you say:  Smile!  (like for a picture).  She takes her fingers and pulls out her cheeks.  It's the cutest thing!  She is such a handful lately - and into everything - and well, I just love her so much that even though she's a ton of work for me, I do wish I could freeze time with her!

Love her to the moon and back!




The End!

Highlights!

A few highlights from last week:

First - I got my hair 'did for the first time in...oh, about 18 months.  It was TIME!

And, to be punny...I got highlights - it was a highlight of my weekend, for sure.  ;-)





Most of these next pictures were taken while Paprika was at swim team practice.  Every day, pretty much no matter what, the two littlest get an hour to RUN at the park.  They love it!















This next picture was taken during a game of hide and go seek last week when we spent most of the day at the park (Paprika included).  The girls met three other little girls and they had a great time playing.  Baby Violet always finds the best  hiding spots! ;-)



Ginger rolling down the grassy hill - one of her favorite things to do!




Violet (age 21 months) made friends with this little girl who was almost 4.  Can you tell they are the same height?

I think Violet even has a few pounds on her.  That's my 99th percentile for height and weight baby.  We call her "Big Baby" around here - you know, like in Toy Story 3?





Feeding the ducks while Paprika is at swim team practice:




Slide racing:




Smelling the flowers:






The End!

Life and Pirate Ships...

Paprika just made this painting (above) an hour or so ago - using watercolors.  It's a pirate ship!  Do you remember the first pirate ship she painted?  I do!  ;-)

But, still my favorite is:  Rain on the Grass and The Universe!


She drew this lion a week or so ago in oil pastels:







If she were going back to public school, she would be starting a week from today!  But as it is, we've been homeschooling since July 1st, and we're finding our rhythm.  A few days ago, I sent the letter to the school district and to Paprika's old school informing them that we are homeschooling - and I was freaked out!  Mr. M said it was like cutting the cord - haha - and now here we are.  It's been great - truly!

The above picture is Paprika "training" Daisy yesterday.  Paprika "trained" her for about an hour - and of course, Daisy already knew everything Paprika was teaching her - but Daisy played along.  She is the best dog - my word.  She is patient, loyal, loving, gentle, sweet, and incredibly smart.

But even though Daisy is all those wonderful things, she still annoys me because I have realized:  I am not a dog person!  

Yes, it's taken me this long to figure out this little fact - and I am sorry because I wish I were a dog person.  But, I'm not.  I like cats.  Too late!

But if you were to have a dog, Daisy is just about as perfect as one could be.  So, I should stop holding her "dog-ness" against her.  There's nothing she can do to make herself into a cat!




We've been making it to swim practice every day!  I have lined up activities for Paprika for the Fall, and she'll be doing swim team 4x/week, piano lessons 1x/week, and theatre 1x/week.  I was worried that was too much, but we'll see how it goes.  I don't want to overschedule but that the same time, I want to provide her with opportunities to do things and meet people.  It's a balance, I guess...

Ginger still wants nothing to do with any outside activities.  She just loves being wild and free and playing around the house and being with her family.  She is as loyal as they come!




I need to start photographing Ginger's artwork because it is incredible - she has a style all her own!  She rips up half of what she makes because she gets frustrated when it's not the exact way she wants it to look.  But on the rare time when it does meet her standards, I hang it up proudly around the house.  Our house is filled with Ginger's artwork.  She loves to draw people more than anything else.









Violet has been sleeping terribly - TERRIBLY!  So, I need to post these photos to remind myself that she DOES sleep sometimes.  ;-)






It's mostly a night-sleeping problem.  I am night weaning her because I only getting about 45 minutes sleep/night (because I am her pacifier!) - and well, I am ready to get some sleep.  As soon as I fall asleep at night, she wakes me up wanting to nurse.  Then I can't get back to sleep, and the minute I do, she wakes me up again to nurse.  It would be like someone tapping on your shoulder every 15 minutes when you're trying to sleep and then screaming at the top of their lungs if you don't let them keep tapping!  ;-)

Good times!

But she is so beautiful and sweet - I just love her.  Even if I never sleep again.  Haha.






The End.