On This October Evening

Words & Photography
by Melissa Simmons



This time of the year - right now, on this October evening - is so lovely to me. Jeans weather, but still sandals. Mums blooming happily on the porch, but still there are green leaves and freshly picked flowers. Crisp, dew-heavy mornings, but warm, sunny afternoons.

This time of the year - right now, on this October evening - is so lovely to me. Jeans weather, but still sandals. Mums blooming happily on the porch, but still there are green leaves and freshly picked flowers. Crisp, dew-heavy mornings, but warm, sunny afternoons.

I buy my mums when they’re still closed up so I can enjoy the entiiiiire blooming process and I’ve been waiting two weeks for these babies to get to this stage!

Creamy Baked Pesto Chicken

Words & Photography
by Melanie Lionello



I’ve spent the last two weeks traveling around Israel and Jordan and am even more hooked on Mediterranean flavours than usual! This is my first dinner back in the kitchen even though we got home almost two days ago. No judgement but I ate a handful of maltesers for dinner last night, then proceeded to fall asleep sitting up. Bloody jetlag!

Anyway, because the weather is substantially cooler in Melbourne than Tel Aviv, I really felt like making something a little cosy, but still with those Mediterranean flavours that are quite fresh and vibrant. I also wanted to make something that Isaac can have tomorrow for lunch as leftovers, and this creamy baked pesto chicken absolutely does the trick!

It’s such a super easy recipe and you can easily double the amount of chicken used without changing any other part of the recipe in case you’d like more leftovers, or if you have more hungry mouths to feed. I also used Barilla jarred pesto to make this recipe really fast, but of course you can make your own pesto too. If making your own pesto, try using a basil and rocket combo for the herbs. The fresh, peppery flavours pair so well with tomatoes and caramelized chicken.



Creamy Baked Pesto Chicken
Serves 2

Ingredients
4 x free-range chicken thighs, skin-off
1 x 400g can of cherry or crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 jar (~75g) pesto
40g feta, crumbled
Black pepper and fresh basil to serve

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 170C fan-forced.
2. In an oven safe fry pan, fry off chicken in olive oil for 7-8 minutes on one side only until caramelised. Then remove from heat and turn chicken thighs over so the caramelisation is on top.
3. In a bowl, combine pesto, water and tomatoes until mixed well.
4. Add pesto and tomato mix to fry pan coating the chicken. Sprinkle over feta then bake for 15 minutes.
5. Serve with basil leaves and pepper on top of grilled asparagus and potatoes or even some cous cous and greek-style salad.

Before A Busy Day Starts

Words & Photography
by Oksana Dunnagan



It’s finally chilly enough here for pants and sweaters,
a big stack of waffles with warm maple syrup,
and echinacea tea for kids and coffee for mama on the porch.
Love me a slow and cozy morning
before a busy day starts.

My Second Son

Words & Photography
by Caroline Snider



I cried when we found out we were having another boy. Not the happy kind that are sobbed into the cheeks of those you love, but the secret ones that come in dark rooms when no one else is watching. They were sharp and unexpected. Laced with guilt and thick with shame. They made no sense. I had spent my childhood with grazed knees, layered in dirt in the backyard of our home. I never longed for bows or tiny doll houses. I remained fearful of what felt like the complicated emotions of my fellow females. The way you could be in one day and out the next. The bodies they grew whilst I remained small and boyish. Awkward and perpetually out of place. The way they knew how to do things like make boys like them and put there hair up just right. I never belonged there. Always somewhere else.
I could barely bring myself to say it out loud, I wanted a girl.

I cried when we found out we were having another boy. Not the happy kind that are sobbed into the cheeks of those you love, but the secret ones that come in dark rooms when no one else is watching. They were sharp and unexpected. Laced with guilt and thick with shame. They made no sense.

Grief is a funny thing. The secret kind stranger still. It plays tricks on your mind and pulls things from the rafters to fuel its power. You don’t keep boys they say. There’s nothing like the bond between Mother and Daughter it laughs in the dark. And a grief like this is unwanted by all it touches, a healthy baby is all that counts they will say. And they are right. And they are wrong. But mostly they are right. Because a healthy baby, and some time, is what I needed.

As the weeks beat on, I let myself feel the sharp sting of it when I was alone. It became clear that what I was searching for was not a daughter necessarily, but instead, confirmation that it would be different this time, just as everyone had promised. That the forces that had taken me so close to the edge before would be gone. That I would be safe. Safe to take everything peacefully and confidently in my stride just as I had always hoped for. That the crying that could never be soothed would not be mine to hold again.

I had thought the past three years had taught me everything there was to know about surrender. That this time I would move with ease through all the change that is to come. But now I see it, how l will be born a Mother all over again with him. With surrender. With my second son. Exactly as I was meant to be. And it feels so very, very right.

Powerful Words

Words by Nicole Mason
Photography by Robin Kay

"How will you know what to be

if you never know who you are?

How will you know what you like

if you never spend time with yourself?

How will you know what you’re interested in

if you never listen to your own thoughts?

How will you grow if you don’t check-in with yourself

and see how you’re doing?

How will the people around you do better

if you’re not working on bettering yourself?

How will you work through loneliness and heart ache

if you can’t sit with it and fully feel its depths?

How will you shape the future

if you run from yourself now?

How will you ever truly live without full acceptance of

the mind and soul living in your own body?"

- Nicole Mason

This Situation

Words & Photography
by Amanda Pahls



This situation
on repeat over here!

Exertion Level Zero

Words & Photography
by Amanda Raines



Amidst my highest aspirations for seasonal decor theming,
I admired Pinterest and contemplated making an attempt
but ultimately exerted myself exactly zero.
Put a plaid blanket out and switched the fireplace on.
I give you, fall decor.
This is how I define success.

Home Environment

Words & Photography
by Joanna Ballentine

"After all we are an art form...we produce

an environment other people have to live in.

We should be conscious of the fact that this environment

which we produce by our very 'being'

can affect the people who live with us."

- Edith Schaffer

We have big impact even in the most mundane choices. Like what our home looks like. I use to make it all about me...about what I liked and what made ME feel happy. In a time where the most important thing about your home is what it looks like, I didn’t truly take into account how guests would feel as they came in, or what the kids felt when they got up and walked into the main living space. Once I realized this, I completely changed the way I dressed my home.

I learned that plants make us all feel fresh and bright. So I added more. I learned that the kids love overtaking the main living area with our activities so I made spaces for them out there. I learned my husband loves to play games so I put the favorites in a place that encouraged us to play more. I learned our guest feel peace from the light in our home so I don’t have curtains on our west facing windows. I learned the kids pick up books more when they’re accessible so I got rid of pointless decorations and replaced them with books.

I started asking myself before every purchase if that specific item put value in adding peace to someone’s day. If it doesn’t, then I don’t believe it’s a good way to steward our money.

I started asking myself before every purchase if that specific item put value in adding peace to someone’s day. If it doesn’t, then I don’t believe it’s a good way to steward our money. It all comes down to having a kingdom-minded mentality in all things, including our home. We serve through our home because it was a gift and blessing, and gratitude makes serving a lot easier. I check in every so often and ask: is this house an environment that allows others to rest?

If you’re unhappy with your home, it’s probably because you need to reawaken its purpose of serving lives. Even it’s it’s just a house of one, invite souls to your home and serve them somehow and watch how it comes alive

Apology Pie

Words & Photography
by Shelby Goodman

Our best seasons in marriage have always been marked by intentionally trying to out-love/out-serve each other. It’s so so easy to get lazy in marriage and much harder to intentionally choose someone else over yourself. 

He’s so much better about leaving me love notes but this ought to one-up him. Our best seasons in marriage have always been marked by intentionally trying to out-love/out-serve each other. It’s so so easy to get lazy in marriage and much harder to intentionally choose someone else over yourself. To be honest, I’ve been kinda sucking at it lately, but I 10/10 recommend saying I’m sorry with an apology pie.

Coming Back To Myself

Words & Photography
by Holly Morgan

Motherhood has a way of pulling us apart and slowly putting us back together in a new form. These early postpartum days have made me love and nurture the pieces of myself that I felt were loosening.

Motherhood has a way of pulling us apart and slowly putting us back together in a new form. These early postpartum days have made me love and nurture the pieces of myself that I felt were loosening. Preparing a meal is one way I can slow down, be intentional, and come back to myself in the most nourishing way.

Autumn Bucket List

Words & Photography
by Jacinthe Hall



Our autumn bucket list:
Apple picking
Visit to the pumpkin patch
Corn maze
Harry Potter marathon
Hike in the forest
Drink hot apple cider
Bake some snickerdoodles
Read all of our autumn books from our book basket
Jumping in a leaf pile
Pumpkin carving
Autumn craft
Make s’mores
What is on your bucket list??

Fall Layers

Words & Photography
by Olivia Jane



Fall layers made all the more special
because they belonged to his older brother first.

The Best Three Words

Words & Photography
by Kay Kroshus

I may have jumped up and down and squealed and cried happy tears, all while she laughed at my silliness.

As I laid Mia down for her nap today, I gave her a kiss and told her I love her. She responded for the first time with the best three words a mama can hear (and as clear as day)...“I love you!” I may have jumped up and down and squealed and cried happy tears, all while she laughed at my silliness. Still pinching myself that I get to be the one to love her and be by her side forever.

Another Glorious Morning

Words & Photography
by Chelsea Mohrman



Actual thought on the way into work this morning:
“Another glorious morning! Makes me sick!” #namethatmovie
Also, I have a plant problem.
Happy Monday!

Tahini Banana Bread

Words & Photography
by Melanie Lionello





If I could only have one snack for the rest of my days, it might just be this tahini banana bread. I cannot explain how DELICIOUS and soft and morish and just utterly scrumptious it is!! The combination of honey and tahini is heavenly. Plus, cinnamon and the sweetness of a couple of dates rounds it all together to let my mind drift back to my Middle-Eastern travels with every bite.

I honestly just throw all the ingredients into my food processor or thermomix and blend until it’s pretty smooth, usually around 30 seconds, then pour into a lined loaf pan, top with a sliced banana, some walnuts and sesame seeds, and bake for an hour. DONE! And it freezes perfectly.

My hot tip? Bake the tahini banana bread, then let it cool, slice it, and layer into an airtight container to freeze. That way you can just grab a slice out for brekky or a snack and slot it straight into the toaster and slather with a pat of butter. YUM!!





Tahini Banana Bread
Yields 1 loaf

Ingredients
3 bananas, peeled
1/3 cup hulled tahini
1/3 cup honey
3 medjool dates, pitted
2 and 1/4 cups plain spelt flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk of choice
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Walnuts to top
Sesame seeds to top

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (fan-forced).
2. Add all ingredients except for one banana, walnuts and sesame seeds to a food processor and blend for 30 or so seconds until batter is 3. quite smooth and combined.
4. Pour batter into a baking paper lined loaf pan.
5. Top with extra banana sliced down the middle, walnuts and sesame seeds.
6. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean (depends on your loaf tin size).
7. Cool in tin for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack until it's cool enough to be easily handled.
8. Slice, wrap and freeze! Or enjoy right away!

Life Is Beautiful

Words & Photography
by Nico Gawthrop



This week, her song to sing on repeat is,
“It’s okay to feel angry,
it’s not okay to hurt someone”
from Daniel Tiger.
On her thirty or fortieth go at it today,
she belted the "OKAY" so loudly that she farted.
I laughed until I cried.
Life is beautiful.

A Bit Of Nature

Words & Photography
by Nina Plummer



City life can be challenging and extremely draining. As the number of us who live in cities increases, a growing number of us experience a deep longing to reconnect with nature. Stepping out of the digital and virtual and into the real, tangible, and natural offers one of the most revitalizing elixirs to the pressures of city living.

No substitute exists for spending time outdoors in nature. But for the rising number of us who find ourselves at least one floor above being able to step outside at any time of day, there is a longing to feel more of the natural world even when indoors.

City life can be challenging and extremely draining. As the number of us who live in cities increases, a growing number of us experience a deep longing to reconnect with nature.

In the absence of a room that opens up to a garden, plants and flowers can be a lovely alternative that can help us to create a natural home. From flowers and grasses picked during a walk with the dog to an assortment of potted plants, what gives a home a natural feel is when plants and flowers are left wild, being allowed to grow as they naturally would. Rather than trimming potted trees into shape and rather than creating tight bouquets, leaving both indoor plants and bouquets loose and wild will create a more natural look and feel to a room than manicured perfection.

Corners and spots with little light are perfect for dried flowers and foliage which not only do not need light but last longer in shade, as they tend to fade in sunlight. Not only do dried flowers brighten up a dark corner, but they are also reusable and cost-effective.
⠀
Displaying seasonal branches in large vases is another simple and striking way to add drama and interest to a room and help to bring nature into our homes.⁠⠀

That Fascination

Words & Photography
by Joanna Ballentine



This is why I want to home educate and this is why I desire to be so intentional- I want to see dirt in my kid's nails, I want to have bugs in my house, and I want to see THAT face on the regular…the face of a child who is doing exactly what he was designed to do. I want to be there when they are enthralled with creation, when they explore and challenge their minds, and when something clicks in their brain.

I want to see dirt in my kid's nails, I want to have bugs in my house, and I want to see THAT face on the regular…the face of a child who is doing exactly what he was designed to do.

I don’t take it lightly that I’m very fortunate to able to constantly witness their face of fascination- that I get to be the one who makes it happen. I get to tap into the magical world of the imaginations of children. It's a wonderful world I’m remembering, and it's sad we all lost it somewhere along the way. My biggest desire is that they don’t lose it as young as we did, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen.

The Entire Day

Words & Photography
by Lakeesha Bailey



We spent the entire day together.
Picking apples, a wagon ride through the orchard,
visiting the sunflower field, splurging on candy and apple cider slushees,
and visiting all the animals her little heart desired.
It was good...Real good.
We haven’t had a lot of this lately between school and sickies,
so days like these just give me all the warm and fuzzies.

Too Much

Words & Photography
by Caroline Snider



Some time around the 10th week of my pregnancy I told Brett that I didn’t think I could do it anymore. That I didn’t want to. That I had made a horrible mistake in wanting a second child. That everything that had seemed to make sense before no longer did.

I had hoped for this pregnancy for the best part of a year and now here it was and I wanted it to stop. I lay on the couch all day long trying to stomach sips of water. My energy and enthusiasm for life completely evaporated, and a 2 year old at my feet so desperately in need of his Mother.

I shouted. I lost my cool. I vomited into a collection of bowls that littered the floor. I turned the television on again. And the walls came closing in. That’s the thing about the dark, it wants us to feel like there’s no way forward.

And it feels important to say now that the fog has lifted, it is okay to feel whatever you are feeling. You can feel despair and gratitude all at once. You are not too much for the world. You are safe. You do not have to silence yourself for the comfort of others.

And all the while I thought about how the world tells us to be quiet in these moments. I thought about the woman at the grocery store that told me as I was trying not to pass out, my son in my arms, that I shouldn’t be telling people. Just in case. And I thought what a thing it is to be told to keep your pain to yourself. That it might be too much for others. And I thought about all the ways we tell women that their marker for success for something as life changing as becoming a Mother is to remain quietly unmoved by the process. And then I came here and read the words of women who had lost their babies, whose babies were hooked to tubes and monitors fighting an evil that had found its way inside the purest amongst us. Mothers who were praying a deep and primal prayer for hope, for a future. And I felt the most overwhelming and existential guilt I have ever and will ever know. And I thought about the randomness of fortune. And how impossibly unfair it all is.

And I, just as every Mother who has come before me has done, tried to carry the weight of all of that inside me. And it feels important to say now that the fog has lifted, it is okay to feel whatever you are feeling. You can feel despair and gratitude all at once. You are not too much for the world. You are safe. You do not have to silence yourself for the comfort of others. You are right where you’re supposed to be. You are not too much.

Fall Captured

Words & Photography
by Jennifer Eland



Warm apple crostata, golden dried ferns,
one perfect maple leaf, and morning coffee =
fall captured in a single photo.

Pumpkins

Words & Photography
by Sara Fesenko



Just a mama and her pumpkins.

Fleeting

Words by Rachel Wolf
Photography by Autumn Boucher

“There are days when I ache with this truth.

I feel it in the marrow of my bones.

Clear into my soul.

Because I know.

These days are fleeting.

Nothing lasts forever.

Not the sleepless nights of a newborn nor the angst of a pre-teen.

Not the sweet milky smile of a baby nor the quick humor or this half-grown child.

Our life has become this pile of snapshots and in each photo I can see you growing up.

Sometimes it feels so fast I can scarcely breathe.

No, nothing lasts forever.

And so I look around and wonder where the time has gone.

It turns out that "this too shall pass," my motto on the hardest days, applies to everyday.

And suddenly I don't want to squander a moment.

Today is fleeting.

And I wonder when my son will be as tall as me.

And when my daughter will no longer curl in my lap and kiss my cheeks.

I wonder at how much longer my arms will be the welcome nest that my children flock to, encircling them as they sleep.

And when they will finally pull away.

And so tonight I will lay beside you until you are soundly dreaming, just in case I wake tomorrow to discover that you've grown up.

I will listen to your breathing and remember the days when you were small and sometimes it seemed so hard.

And I wonder why it seemed so hard.

In the darkness I promise myself to lead with my heart.

Always.

To lead with compassion.

Starting now.

I promise myself to stop wasting time speaking words I will regret.

I imagine this life with children grown, off to write their own stories and live their own adventures.

And while my mind delights in them finding their wings, my heart weeps at the suggestion.

And there is that ache again.

Perhaps that ache is love.

True, full, indescribable love. The kind that you didn't know existed until you had children of your own.

The kind you can't explain now because language is inadequate.

The kind of love you whisper into small, sleeping ears because you just need them to know what is unknowable.

This much love.

Yes. Maybe that ache is the feeling of a heart bursting from a fullness that is immeasurable.

And perhaps that ache will help us remember what really matters.

May it keep us kind.

May it keep us playful.

May it help us find the words and be the parents that we want to be.

Words like "I'm sorry," and "It hurts," and "I understand."

Words like "I love you," and "You are enough," and "I am here."

Words that heal us and connect us.

May it help us remember how it feels to be small.

I remember how it feels to be small.

May we live this life and guide these children with the goal of having nothing to regret.

Not one thing.

And may we remember always that when the sun sets on today our child will be one day older.

One day closer to grown.

And that tomorrow is another chance to start again.

Oh, yes. These days are fleeting.

So I will savor the taste of my child's spirit when it rises up.

I will skim it off and drink it deeply.

So that I never forget these fleeting days.

So that I never forget this perfectly ordinary day that will be dust and snapshots tomorrow.

Today I will hold you in my arms.

I will listen to your dreams.

I will take your hand and go wherever you wish to go.

While you still want to journey there together.

Because soon it will be time.

Time to open my arms and let you go.

As you find your wings and soar.

And I ache.

Again.”

- Rachel Wolf

A friend recently shared this poem and it felt like the perfect caption to these photos the kids and I shot of each other last week while at my parent’s farm. Beautiful fleeting moments with these three.