So often we are asked what we look for in a magazine piece for Rhythm of the Home. As the magazine is expanding, our subject matter seems to be growing as well. We thought that it might be helpful to address some common questions, and give you a few ideas for future editions.

When we first began ROTH, our focus was on Waldorf and Montessori education, as well as seasonal celebrations. While those themes are still prevalent, our contributors have helped us expand to such subjects as pregnancy and birth, parenting, conscious eating, alternative education, the mother journey, nature explorations, sustainable living, gardening, mindfulness, finding our rhythms, yoga, alternative healing, herbal medicine and much more.

We also welcome:

Craft tutorials
Recipes
Reflections
Poetry
Short stories
Fiction
Illustrations

Beginning in the Autumn edition, we will be welcoming a few young writers and artists to our Kid Corner. This is an opportunity to showcase the talent of our kiddos, and to give them a place to express their creativity.

Beginning in the Summer edition, we will be showcasing the incredible photographic work of many of our readers, as we choose a weekly winner of our photographic journey to showcase in each edition. Photography is always a loved addition by our readers, and we look forward to seeing this project grow.

As always, we are here to answer questions that you might have. You can email us at rhythmofthehome@gmail.com. To learn more about submitting to the magazine, please visit us here.

We hope that you will join us for an upcoming edition.

The Editors

Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do.   To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.

Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.

Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.

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There is something about being with children, perhaps most especially children you know from the freckles on their face to the core of their being that is so very peaceful. Children are so often in the moment and if we sit back and watch them unfold, they serve as an anchor, keeping us from wandering too far ahead or drifting too far back in our minds.

Children don’t seem to have the same stumbling blocks that we as adults do, either. Why and when and where do those blocks come from? Recently, my little people requested a trip to the beach. It was a cool, gray day, but it had dawned so after two days of intense heat, so with hope (and assumption) that the gray would eventually clear to sunshine, we packed up our beach gear. I sat there freezing in the blustery wind while my four-year old cheerfully started shoveling sand and scooping water. With his body free to explore and wiggle, he was oblivious to the chill.

I watched him, snapped photos of him, and reveled in his joy. He was holding me in that moment, reminding me to just be.

This month we welcome Nicola of the blog Creative. Light. Less.  Nicola is a mother of two who lives in Northern California and blogs about mindful living in an urban environment.  We look forward to having Nicola with us in the coming weeks, and we hope that you will join us here every week for Nicola’s words, photographs and reflections.

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Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do.   To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.

Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.

Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.

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There is a very lucky little boy hiccuping in my belly. My belly that is contracting and tightening and gripping at the back. Across that belly lies a brand new quilt, covering me and the baby boy with love and well wishes from near and far.

There are a few things you know when you go about becoming a mother again, and again. One being that the best laid plans are meant to be changed. Two being that you are bound to learn something new.

This is the first time I have ever been surrounded by so many mamas during a pregnancy. I started my family very young and my community of other women had just begun to bloom when I had my second. I certainly have never had the joy of knowing other mamas expecting at the same time, knowing our little ones will be friends forever on. We are so blessed to have friends and family authentic in their excitement to meet our son and love him just for being here. I wanted to thank them, and celebrate our joy with them. A party was planned throughout the last several months. With gifts for our loved ones, little rituals, music and dancing; I would prepare my mind and body for birth, opening my heart in gratitude. The best laid plans are meant to be changed.

I do not know why I was surprised that this body which has produced two babes well before forty weeks decided it was time to start finishing this one around week thirty-three. I cannot be long on my feet, much less spend a week baking and an afternoon dancing. So change we did.

This Saturday (with the girls making lemonade on the lawn and me staying put in the shade) we welcomed a steady stream of family and friends bringing blessings, beads for a birth necklace, food for our freezer, laughter and birth stories.

Sometimes the best way to show people how much you love and appreciate them is to let them love and appreciate you. I have all my life been a caregiver. It is hard to care for a care-giver. I watched from my shady chair, their happiness at nurturing me and my growing boy. Their joy in our joy was as much a gift as the other tokens and treasures they brought to us. Beads were brought from special places and times in their lives. Quilt squares had been lovingly chosen or made so carefully. I was overwhelmed by the thought and intention that went into each choice. I wanted to celebrate how much it means to me to be part of the lives of these people I love so. On Saturday, from my shady chair, I learned something new . . . so do they.

This month we will be sharing some lovely words from Sherene Cauley.  Sherene lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. She is a yoga teacher, child care provider, homeschooler and promoter of wellness. Surrounded by family and friends, they are excitedly awaiting the birth of their little boy this summer.   You can follow Sherene’s own blog here.  We look forward to having Sherene with us and we hope that you will join us in welcoming her.

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Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do.   To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.

Thank you to everyone who shared photos this week in the Rhythm of the Home Flickr group.  It was wonderful to see such beautiful visual representations of your individual lives and the role that motherhood plays in the rhythm your days.  Here are our favorite submissions from this week’s photos:

from Gesche

from Heather

from Michelle

from blooming poppies

from Suzy Q

We hope that you will continue to join us on our photographic journey!  The new theme for this week is “Getting Outdoors.”  Head on over to the Flickr group and start sharing your photos of what being in the out of doors looks like for you and your family.   We’ll choose our five favorite photos from the week on Sunday evening and will post them here for all to see next Monday morning.

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Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do.   To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.

Today we are featuring Rhythm of the Home sponsor, Plan to Eat!  Plan to Eat is an innovative menu planning tool designed to help busy families organize recipes, shopping lists and meal plans in a way that ensures that healthy food becomes a feasible part of daily life.  Plan to Eat is a small business, run by Clint and Lisa, who were inspired to begin their business because of their own practical needs as a busy, homeschooling family.  Read on to find out more about Plan to Eat and to enter a giveaway for this incredibly useful meal planning tool!

Tell us a bit about Plan to Eat.

Plan to Eat is an online meal planner and shopping list creator. It allows you to save the personal menu that’s already in your head and scattered across recipe books and the web, in one place.

Then you can easily select your favorite recipes from your menu (like at a restaurant), plan your meals for the night, week or month, print out the automatically created shopping list, and go shopping with confidence that you have a plan that includes eating great food at home, and not wasting time and money in the process.

What inspired you to begin your work, and what keeps you motivated today?

Plan to Eat was born out of our desire to eat real food, good food, prepared at home, together as a family. But without planning, it just didn’t happen as often as we wanted. Eating out is expensive not to mention the cost to your health. And while oatmeal is great sometimes, it is just not my favorite thing for dinner multiple times a week. So I would plan. But I got frustrated with the tediousness of the process. Finally after 2 years of asking, my clever computer husband made me a program to automate my process.

Plan to Eat is driven by our family’s passion for eating real food, eating together and saving time and money in the process.

What is one of your biggest challenges in your everyday life and how are you coping?

Our biggest challenge is keeping everything balanced. We run our small business and homeschool our four kids and have to keep everyone fed. It is very challenging. This is why it is so important for me to create a meal plan. When I know dinner is planned and I have everything I need to make it, I can stay focused on doing everything else I have to get done each day.

Plant to Eat is offering a one year subscription to their service for one lucky member of the Rhythm of the Home community.  To enter, leave a comment on this post.  For additional entries, you can help to grow the Plan to Eat community by either liking Plan to Eat on Facebook or by following them on Twitter. Just make sure to leave a comment here letting us know that you’ve done so!  We will choose a winner via random number generator next Friday, May 18th, 2012.

Thanks to Plan to Eat!

Also, the comments are now closed for last week’s Alphabet Glue giveaway.  The winners will be emailed shortly, and thanks to everyone for your entries and enthusiasm! Remember, you can still use the discount code ROTH at checkout to receive 15% off copies of Alphabet Glue between now and May 15th.

Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.

Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.

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Winter was disturbingly mild here – so mild we never had to turn on a heater in the kids’ room at bedtime. Yet somehow spring crept upon me and pushed me closer to the door of summer before I realized spring was even here.

Perhaps winter lingered because I was waiting for it or maybe because of the rain we finally got in April, but that rain dried as quickly as it came and the sun returned, this time with all its warmth spraying down on me.

The rain followed by the sun encouraged the ground to release that smell; the earthy come-dig-in-me aroma, and it was as if finally I could breathe after a long stretch of being ever-so-slightly suffocated. I had not realized that I was until I found myself sucking up large breaths of air, clean from the rain, drenched with the scent of jasmine flowers.

The world is unfurling itself. Everything is breathing outside now; new seedlings, our winter duvets, laundry, my children, my husband, and I. The world is beginning to hum with the energy of being outside. I am going to just linger here a moment longer.

This month we welcome Nicola of the blog Creative. Light. Less.  Nicola is a mother of two who lives in Northern California and blogs about mindful living in an urban environment.  We look forward to having Nicola with us in the coming weeks, and we hope that you will join us here every week for Nicola’s words, photographs and reflections.

Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.

Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.

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It seems to me the original purpose of festivals was to celebrate some practical and functional accomplishment or holiday. Back when people worked, lived and celebrated all within the same life, without compartmentalizing life- you celebrated your work. And work was life.

I find if our life, our work, and our learning are all one- we celebrate them far more fully. And those celebrations are not forced, nor do they require planning, because they just are. They come from the natural rhythm of our lives, full of richness.

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is one such celebration in our small world. The excitement the night before is only rivaled by Christmas Eve. My oldest saves her money all year long to reach a goal she has set for her personal stash. Both girls have a list of projects, and the needed supplies. I have my own long list full of gifts, school lessons, and crafts. It has become a community festival as many of our circle of friends also craft with wool. Seeing the same farmers, spinners, and vendors every year- we build valuable relationships and associations. We look forward to seeing them, discussing what has happened during the year. We talk about the projects of last year and the ones to come.

Right around the time we started homeschooling, I started buying as much of our roving, felt, and yarn at the festival as I could. At the time I thought I was just collecting a good sized stash of good quality material. I respect the needs of my children to have high quality supplies if they are to make high quality work. I also support and value the quality work that small farmers and artisans provide in all industries, especially this one so dear to my family. After the first year though, I realized my bulk purchase did something much bigger.

When I buy all our stash from the festival- we run out a month or so before the next one. So the whole season before we pine and plan for our return. It has become a fully functional festival based on our work and our learning, based on the way we live. The build up is not only enthusiastic, but authentic.

It is tradition. It is celebration. It is all based on the rhythm of our life. Seeing the children absorb this experience, I am overcome with gratitude.  I  know these weeks before, during and after the Sheep and Wool festival will be cherished for all the years of our lives.

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This month we will be sharing some lovely words from Sherene Cauley.  Sherene lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. She is a yoga teacher, child care provider, homeschooler and promoter of wellness. Surrounded by family and friends, they are excitedly awaiting the birth of their little boy this summer.   You can follow Sherene’s own blog here.  We look forward to having Sherene with us and we hope that you will join us in welcoming her.

Photography is one of the most beautiful ways to catalog our days, and express a true part of our nature. For many of us, we visit blogs and websites that inspire us through images and capture us with a click of the lens.

Beginning today, we will be posting a photography theme for each week. If you are inclined to join us, please post an image that represents that theme in our Flickr group. At the end of each week, we will choose 5 photographs to be included in each Monday’s blog post. At the beginning of every month we will choose one photograph from each week that will be featured in our magazine.

For this week, in honor of Mother’s Day, we would love to see your images that represent what motherhood means to you. We will be over on our Flickr group all week admiring your beautiful photography, and remember to check back next Monday to see the photos chosen.

I don’t know about the weather where you are this weekend, but it certainly seems that spring is officially in full swing for many of us.  So, in the event that you find yourself with a breezy, clear day and a few spare hours, we’d like to make sure that you are well prepared.  Our suggestion? Revisit this post on crafting wooden ships for sunny day sailing from the Summer 2010 edition of Rhythm of the Home. Brought to us by the always creatively brilliant Maya Donenfeld, this simple tutorial will have you and yours out in the fresh spring air and sailing your handcrafted boats in no time.  How very perfect for a spring Saturday!

Today we are happy to bring you a giveaway from Alphabet Glue! Created by blogger and newly minted Rhythm of the Home associate editor Annie Riechmann, Alphabet Glue is a downloadable e-magazine for families who love books!  Filled with activities, printables, projects and plenty of inspiration, Alphabet Glue was created in hopes of helping more families to incorporate creativity, imagination and all things literary into their everyday routines.

Each issue of Alphabet Glue contains leveled reading lists, bookmaking tutorials, storybuilding activities and hands-on projects that complement favorite titles in children’s literature. The current issue, Volume Six, has a special focus on whimsical activities that blend bookmaking and storytelling with the celebration of spring breezes and the arrival of gardening season.

From detective kits to miniature mailboxes, book bracelets to printable storytelling games, each issue of Alphabet Glue offers a variety of ways for families to slow down and spend time enjoying reading, writing, drawing and crafting together.  Reading recommendations organized by both theme and grade level make it a handy resource for homeschoolers too.

To enter to win a copy of each of the first six volumes of Alphabet Glue, simply leave a comment on this post.  That’s over 200 pages worth of paperfolding, book reading, storytelling fun!  We will randomly select three winners next Friday, May 11th, 2012.  To find out more about Alphabet Glue, and to read up on all of the bookish goodness contained in the first six volumes, visit the Alphabet Glue page at Annie’s blog, Bird and Little Bird.

Also, a special offer for the ROTH community: enter ROTH at checkout to receive 15% off any and all issues of Alphabet Glue now through May 15th, 2012.

Thanks for all of your entries!  We’ve selected winners, and JJ, Kelli and Jennyroo, we will be in touch shortly with your copies of Alphabet Glue!