Jeanetics

Today in my Life

2012-01-25T22:23:00.000-06:00

Today I chronicled "a day in my life" as a part of a blog hop. You would think it would be easy to chronicle "a day in the life" but I quickly found the hang up. Though I could have crafted a romantic look into the typical rhythm of a day in my life, I chose instead to simply capture "This Day" in my life. And truly I think what I have captured has much more personality, shows more about me, and will be more interesting to me far in the future because I chose to do so despite the many "non-typical" things that went on today.

7:30am I woke up to the smell of oatmeal and the sound of a crying baby. We kept the boys up a little late last night with a sitter because Jeremy and I were out at a class. SO the baby hadn't really woken up on the right side of the port-o-crib. Once he was seated at the table with oatmeal of an edible temperature, and a spoon in his fist he was much happier. I, on the other hand, would rather still have been in bed.

And yeah, we're eating out of a random selection of tupperware and pyrex bowls, because the dishes didn't get done last night.

8:00am After breakfast Owen read scripture stories to us. We recently finished Book of Mormon Stories and have now started on Doctrine and Covenants Stories. Last semester when we were homeschooling we would let them watch the accompanying videos, but today he needed to get dressed for school.

8:30am Jeremy left to take Owen to school--he's been attending his local elementary school again for the last week and a half. Jonas went along for the ride.

I sat down to post on my Urban Pioneer Story blog--a great post about our latest homesteading adventure. And I checked on a few blogs, and Pinterest (love!).

Jeremy got back and got ready and left for campus for the day. I got dressed and picked up the living room.

10:15am My visiting teacher came over for a while. Jonas and her son played trains while the moms enjoyed a nice chat.

11:30am The boys and I drove down to Owen's school to eat a "special" hot dog families-invited lunch, celebrating "Hot dog! We're so excited construction is complete on the new school gym."

Then they played on the playground together until it was time for Owen to go back to class.

12:30pm I put the baby down for a nap. (He slept for three hours he was so worn out.)

I lay in bed for a while and read a book, and tried unsuccessfully to get Jonas to entertain himself on the computer. Finally I just abandoned the book.

Jonas and I worked on grinding some wheat--I'll make bread tomorrow.

And I did a little bit of laundry.

3:55pm With the baby in tow we picked up Owen from school. When we got home Owen did his chore of feeding the chickens. Then the boys stayed outside for a half hour to play in the nice weather.

After heading in the boys sat down to watch Danger Mouse on Hulu (Jeremy got them into it) while I made dinner.

5:30pm We sat down for dinner. Mushroom and kale polenta--perfect wintery comfort food.

After dinner I gathered supplies and Jeremy and I practiced some twostep moves. (One day we'll look like this.)

6:30pm We left the house to go teach the two step at for Mutual (youth program) at church.

8:40pm We arrive home and put the boys to bed (late for the second night in a row--I hate that).

9:00pm I'm in bed. A hahahaha! No I'm on the computer, writing on my blog. Usually I alternate days on the blogs, but today's blog hop is a special occasion. I'll probably browse Pinterest a bit more. Read more blog posts in my queue. After Jeremy finishes doing dishes, we may watch something on Netflix or Hulu. Jeremy needs to do his physical therapy. I may take a bath or read more of my book. Then before bed it is time for scriptures and prayers, and talking way too late into the night.

2:00am I can probably guarantee to be asleep by then.

Today was definitely not a typical day, but I don't really think typical days happen all that often at all. Today was a day. We got most everything done we needed to (We missed family scripture study--we should have done it during dinner since we were going to be out late.) A "typical" day may have seen Jonas and I at the library for story time this morning--but in the real day we preferred our visitors and our visit to school instead. Here's to non-typical days--may our life be full of many more enjoyable ones.

Want to read more "days in the life"? click here

New Year's (Infographic) Greetings

2012-01-24T06:34:00.000-06:00

Our first year married I tried to do a Christmas card/family newsletter, I was lenient with my timing saying, "It's completely appropriate to morph it into a "New Years'" card/letter." But the next year I decided: forget all that. The holidays are just too busy to get that done. I don't want to be stressed out the whole time that my cards aren't sent out yet. So I decided that Chinese New Year letters were a much better idea and would leave my holidays more stress-free.

Flash forward a few years. I'm just not really got about follow through--with anything really. If you (or your mother) gave Jeremy and I a gift for our wedding--I'm sorry for not getting you a "Thank you" card, I really am--can I just agree to give you a hug when I see you in heaven and we'll call it good? Things printed, put in envelopes, individually addressed, needing stamps--I'm just not very good about it. I usually end up after step 2 or 3 and it's May already and I finally just say "forget it" until next year.

With the advent of the "green revolution" my situation has improved as it's no longer necessary to physically mail things, you can e-mail them (for cheap too) and it's all in the noble name of being ecologically minded; however I'm not really organized enough to have all my e-mail address books from my three e-mail accounts (y'know high school, college, and my grown up gmail account) consolidated into one list. So my point is: Here it is--if you are someone I know personally, consider this your personal family newsletter from me--with all the love and affection appropriate to the nature of our specific relationship.

This year's family newsletter was a lot of fun to put together. It was a collaborative effort between Jeremy and myself. Infographics are really big right now in design --probably because they are a lot of fun to make, and a reasonably fast project. Jeremy and I got a kick out of coming up with different items of family information that could be used, and how to use as many different types of charts and graphs as possible. And we even completed it without any cross words exchanged--though there were a few sarcastic ones, and a few really sarcastic ones. For your viewing pleasure here is "Our Family 2011" (click photo to enlarge).

Felt Heart Chain Garland

2012-01-20T22:01:00.000-06:00

Oh, Pinterest is so much fun--isn't it? Today I did a little project combining two different ideas I'd seen on Pinterest--folded felt hearts and a paper heart chain.

Oh, It just makes me happy.

First cut a bunch of felt strips. I just eyeballed the cutting, but they were basically 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 of an inch.

Start the chain by sewing the first two strips together in a "V".

Fold the Ends of the "V" down and meet them together under the point of the "V". Add the next two strips for the next heart and sew together. Sew through all four layers of felt about 1/8 inch from the bottom edge.

If you are doing all one color heart this next tip isn't necessary. If you are alternating colors I found it looked better to sandwich the two new color strips a little over the edge of the tip of the previous heart. Then I zigzag stitched it together over that hidden edge.

I love the little hearts and different colors.

With a thicker felt, like wool felt, you could hang the garland and it should hold its shape. This one I will use to drape around my piano-top valentines display.

I'm sharing this post here:

Victorian-ize a Blouse

2012-01-19T12:36:00.000-06:00

I have found a quick and easy way to modify a normal blouse to make it look more Victorian and work better for my steampunk costumes. I've done two versions now so here is my tutorial for how to steampunk a blouse.

I start with a very structured button-up blouse. The style was to wear blouses that looked almost like you were wearing a jacket. I really liked a lot about this blouse, all except the turned down pointed collar which just doesn't look very Victorian at all.

Start by flipping up the collar and cut off as much of it as you want to. I have cut both of mine just above halfway.

Then starting on one side tuck 1/4 inch of the raw edges to the inside and pin them all the way around.

Sew right along the edge with a machine or by hand.

Now the collar will stand up straight giving it the feeling of a period blouse.

Me in Paris.

On my other blouse I tried to get the ruffly collar look of the Victorian era.

Here was the collar previous to my mod.

I cut this one down halfway as well. To make it ruffle a little bit I pinched the fabric of the collar about every 3/4 inch and sewed little pin tucks--just sewing as close to the edge as possible to make the fabric pinch together-- alternating on the inside and the outside of the collar fabric. I did this along the center line of the collar--not sewing the tuck all the way up to the hem. This was enough to make the collar ruffle a bit.

Obviously there would be better ways to actually sew a Victorian blouse, but this is an easy way to mod an existing blouse to look more Victorian without needing to buy any other fabric or expend much effort at all.

We Love Who?

2012-01-16T22:23:00.000-06:00

Geek baby. Such a cutie.

We really love Doctor Who.
In case you've never checked it out --the older episodes are all available to watch instantly on Netflix. The new seasons are available to subscribe to on i-tunes.

Jeremy and I started originally with the 2005 episodes. They are a bit old school but improve in quality quickly. My sister started with the 2010 episodes and suggests that route to avoid being turned away by cheesy special effects.

But the story lines are creative, and clever. The characters are interesting and (surprisingly) change every season or two which keeps things extra interesting. And the show is inter-generationally-family-friendly. (Just ask my mom.)

Confidence

2012-01-11T23:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I wish I could be like other people.

I wish I was confident that I knew what was right, that I had everything figured out, that I had no reason to second-guess myself.

But I'm not--I don't have that confidence. I believe in learning, and expanding my mind. I love reading and researching and becoming more. In some areas I feel like I've accumulated enough knowledge to feel confidence. When it comes to food--I know what I believe. I can talk about food choices with no shame or apologies. I am confident with my actions, knowledge, and beliefs on the subject.

But my kids are another matter. I have thoughts, and beliefs, and I've done tons of research-- I did, after all, receive the ridiculed "Marriage Family and Human Development" bachelors of science degree from BYU-- but it doesn't matter. I lack confidence as a parent. I lack confidence that the choices I make are the "right" ones. I don't get the results I think I should from the choices that do feel right to me. So I question myself.

It seems like everyone else has the right answer. Everyone else has made choices--they don't question them. I'm the only one that questions them. But that's not enough, I question the alternatives as well. So I'm lost in the middle of this life-test called parenting and I don't know any of the answers. I try to figure out the problems but I don't have any way to check my work and see if I'm even on the right track.

Owen is old enough that we talk and converse. I'm scared by the fact that he's old enough to be forming memories that he will still remember in a few years. It seems too soon. I'm not ready for that--I was supposed to have things figured out by now.

But I don't.

Hot Cocoa

2012-01-10T09:36:00.000-06:00

I should just restrain myself. I keep turning over long-enjoyed food products and finding things on the ingredients label I just don't like. Most recently it was hot cocoa mix which contains sucralose.

I'm just not a fan of artificial sweeteners. They are all created as a sugar alternative to be sweet but to have no (or less) calories. In the first place I don't believe it is calories per se that are the enemy to good health, and secondly if I wanted to find a replacement for sugar I would go the other direction on the processing spectrum and instead choose to replace it with honey or maple syrup.

So after returning the canister of hot chocolate to the store shelf, we returned home to revisit Alton Brown's "Art of Darkness II: cocoa" to seek out our solution, and were not disappointed. It's a yummy mug of hot cocoa very rich and dark--very un-American. It's a nice big batch that we can store in a canister for quick and easy use. A frugal replacement for something fairly overpriced in the store(especially if you buy individual packets) and one in which I can control each of the ingredients.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper (if you like that kick)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and sift together (we use a whisk). Seal in an airtight container.

To use, fill your mug half full with the hot cocoa mix and pour in hot water.

Resolutions

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

This year I will become a Maker.

Jeremy got me a gardening apron for Christmas that I have dubbed my "Maker" apron, for all the projects I want to do this year. Gardening, cooking, soap making, stained glass creating, and a teeny bit of electrical engineering. I will dream less and do more.

This year I will become more committed to my husband and marriage.

Jeremy made a wise choice and followed the advice I gave him to offer me a year's worth of dates instead of presents for my birthday and Christmas. I now have a planner with one date designated for each month of the next year. I figured I could meet his offer and take the opportunity for me to plan one date a month for us as well. (First one is a $20 roll of quarters and the Dance Dance Revolution machine at the union arcade.)

A third week each month we will entertain guests in our home, which is something we both love doing, and a fourth week out of the month we will be invited to someone else's home for the evening. It's a genius plan.

This year I will show my body as much concern and respect as I show my children's bodies, by allowing myself to get as much sleep as I really need.

I have three children who are sleeping way more at night than they were a year ago, getting up a fraction of the number of times they were, and I just might see an actual full night's sleep without waking up a single time in this year's future. Then again I might not. But this year I will present myself with that opportunity instead of sarcastically saying that it won't happen anyways, so why don't I just stay up a little later to finish this show?

2012. I think this year has potential.

Home School First Semester

2012-01-02T22:15:00.000-06:00

So we officially finished our first semester of home school.

It's been an interesting experience so far. I started our year really low key. Part of it had to do with my desire for Owen to have a good old-fashioned boyhood, running around building lego cities, and playing lots with his brothers. Part of it was feeling like I have no need to rush or push Owen at this young age. (He's got plenty of time to be amazing later.) And honestly I think part of my low-key laid back approach to starting out was a deffense-mechanism against ideas or pressures from others that I may not know what I'm doing or getting myself into.

Not that I had anyone saying that to my face--what people say it things like they could never do that, they couldn't keep track of all that, or have the patience to do it, or make it work. So my reaction was to say it's no big deal I don't care about anybody's expectations.

In the end I think it was an (inadvertently) excellent way for us to begin our homeschooling. Many people start freaked out about how they'll ever make it all work. They try to do it all, every day, starting the very first week, and pretty soon they are totally burnt out. On the other hand Owen and I started out really casually, have gone along fine this semester, and have recently started to do "more" with our homeschooling, feeling like we are ready for it now.

Overall my feelings after our first semester are that everything is fine. Sometimes in the evenings when I'm thinking to myself-- I wonder if we're making the right choice. I wonder about the other options. But during the day things just feel fine--natural almost. As in --of course I have all my children here at home with me, they're my children. Durring the day I don't go around thinking Owen should be somewhere else.

We do have rough days. Owen get's on my nerves sometimes, but he would anyway. The good thing about home schooling, is that sometimes when he's being tough, I can say, Why don't you sit down over here and do a math worksheet? Or why don't you go read to Jonas? Or sometimes, because it's best for the situation I say, forget lessons, why don't you go play in the back yard?

Home schooling has been nothing but positive for Owen and my relationship. Owen is such a nut. He's so silly, and yet so intelligent at the same time (sound's a bit like his dad. . .). And I've tried hard to get to know him better, and to love and appreciate and accept who he is. And we've had more cuddles this year, more hugs and kisses, more "I love you's", more reading together, more "chatting" together. And that had been a major goal for me in all of this.

Owen and I weren't in a good place last year. Maybe that's my fault. Probably the result of my shortcomings as a mother. But now we are improving, and maybe we won't always homeschool. But right now we are, and before I send Owen out of the home again--he needs to know that I'm on his team. So that's what homeshcool is for us right now--family team building. And so far. . . so good.

Geeky Macbook Air Sleeve Tutorial

2011-12-23T17:34:00.000-06:00

Jeremy got a Macbook this fall to help facilitate working on his dissertation. I'm a little slow out of the gate so I decided the sleeve I promised to sew Jeremy would become his Christmas present from me.

It's super light and compact so Jeremy just wanted a simple felt sleeve to protect it in his bag. I remembered some sort of reverse applique technique (no idea what it's really called) for felt that I decided to use to make it a little more fun. Basically you cut out a design in the top layer of felt and so the inner layer shows through.

First I found the image I wanted to use--this is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy logo. For some reason it was the first idea that came to me to use, and it just stuck with me. So after finding the image I wanted I enlarged it until it was the size I wanted and traced it from the monitor onto trace paper. (You could actually print it if you're the type that has a printer that hasn't been destroyed by the little sticky fingers that can't leave electronic devices alone--but that's not me, so I traced it old-school style.)

I pinned the trace paper to what would be the top layer of felt and used small sewing scissors and an Exacto to cut out the design.

All done. This picture only had two inner "island pieces." This is a factor to consider when deciding on an image to use. The island pieces are harder to work with along with any smaller details.

I sewed about 1/8th of an inch from the edge of the design on all sides to attach it to the inside layer of felt. (And I sewed one time around the whole lettering section--I can't decide if I like that extra stitching or not. )

Then I just sewed up one side, beveled the corner of the flap, and measured how wide to make it.

Then I sewed up the other side, beveled that corner of the flap as well, and slid in the Macbook. I'm still trying to decide on a closure for it. Maybe one of those old-fashioned button and string closures? Anyhow, I'm kind of slow--but I hope that it's coolness will make up for that fact on Christmas morning.

Steampunk Chatelaine

2011-12-20T18:12:00.000-06:00

I had a major critique of girl/female/woman steamers right from the start of Jeremy and my steampunk-ing a few years ago. It was that they were trying to be too masculine--they were trying to be like boys. . . but in a sexy way? (If that description makes any sense.) From over-sized welding goggles, to mini top hats, to just plain choosing to dress like a boy "character", there seemed to be a dearth of classy feminine options for steampunk clothing.

(I said classy feminine options, there was certainly enough brothel-worthy options out there--that's not the kind of "feminine" I'm after.)

The mini top hats have grown on me to tell the truth, and I did finally make myself a pair of feminine-styled goggles, but those both were girly versions of the most common boy accessories. I wanted something awesome, steampunk, and completely a female accessory.

I actually got my flash of inspiration in the February 2011 Country living magazine. They had a whole spread on Victorian Chatelaines-- a sort of Victorian woman's tool belt. Originally worn mostly by housekeepers they grew in popularity becoming adopted by wealthier women as well. They clipped at the waist and hung a number of functional pendants, needle and thimble cases, perfume vials, button hooks, little pencils and notebooks, or tiny coin purses, and they all were made of fine metals and highly ornamental like jewelry.

This is almost a definition of steampunk--the point where beauty and utility intersect.

My steampunk chatelaine, of course, includes my pocketwatch pendant. I also got a pair of stork embroidery scissors--this was actually the first idea I had for a useful but beautiful tool I would be able to find. The heart locket belonged to one of my great or great-great grandmothers and is reminiscent of the vinagrette of the day. A vinaigrette would be perforated on the back side so that if a woman encountered a foul smell on the streets she could hold her vinaigrette (which would hold cotton soaked in vinegar or perfume) up to her nose. I'm sure I could actually put some solid perfume into the locket to give it a real utility. (Adding essential oils to my lotion bar recipe would do the trick.) And finally I have a key--fake unfortunately.

I would love to get the cool little pencil and pad of paper, or one of the little chain-mail-like coin purses. Those were a few things that I couldn't find or fabricate in time for this evening. But I was really happy with how my chatelaine turned out--I even needed to use it to check the time while we were waiting in the-worlds-longest-popcorn-line-ever to see if we were missing our movie yet.

A Night at the Theater

2011-12-17T16:23:00.000-06:00

Last night was the premier of Sherlock Holmes:Game of Shadows. Jeremy and I attended in full steampunk fashion. To be clear Sherlock Holmes is not a Steampunk genre film; but is a film extremely enjoyable to any steamers. Holmes and Watson even sport goggles in one scene. And there's a certain gadget again--definitely steampunk. And some of the weaponry. . . Like I said not steampunk, but leaning just enough to make it fun.

I worked on a new costume for the premier--I wanted a more formal one. It's the luck of the draw, but I recently found a prom skirt at the thrift store for $6, so I started with that.

I gathered the skirt at the back of the knees. The skirt still wasnt quite as flat-fronted as period whould require, but it was an improvement. I made a bustle and overskirt combination, just lined with tulle so I could still sit down.

A chatelaine which deserves it's own post (but thanks for the brooch/pin Anna).

I finally made a pair of goggles, but all along had wanted something more feminine. So I painted a pair of Jeremy's old swimming goggles, and clipped my feathery fascinator thing on the side. I think the combination was awesome (along with the purple streaks in my hair).

Jeremy looked super suave with his empty classic Sherlock Holmes thrift-store pipe, and cane of my grandpa's.

The movie was well-worth it and so was dressing up. It reminded me of going out for the first Holmes movie--that was our very first time going public with our steampunk cosplaying.

Party Time (and a giveaway)

2011-12-13T21:45:00.002-06:00

I had a Ladies get-together here the other night. We ate delicious food and played Bunco and gave out prizes.

Read more and enter giveaway.

More Felt Fun

2011-12-12T06:30:00.000-06:00

Another felt project I worked on last Christmas was a set of felt food for my niece. I had seen all sorts of fun ideas online and, made a crazy assortment with no real rhyme or reason. My niece's favorites ended up being the sugar cookies with the little bead sprinkles on them. I love the bowtie pasta because they are just so perfect--my sister said that when her sister-in-law was visiting, she went to pick up the pasta to throw it away and didn't realize it wasn't real until she touched it! That's fun--and it was a great excuse for finally buying a pair of pinking shears. (Why are scissors so expensive?)

Pesto Crescents

2011-12-09T14:19:00.001-06:00

I had a party here the other night and made these pesto crescents. They are really easy. I use Pillsbury crescent roll dough since that is one skill I haven't mastered making at home! The roll dough comes out in little triangles--I cut each triangle in half length-wise to make it a skinny triangle. Spread it with pesto and roll them up into little rolls.

350* oven for about 10 minutes, or until they get puffed up and golden brown.

These are delicious, and cutting the rolls in half before rolling and baking makes them a perfect 2-3 bite size for parties.

(Soon to be Non-) Unfinished Projects

2011-12-05T12:11:00.001-06:00

Ever wonder when bloggers post about starting a project and then never post about finishing it? Ha! Yeah, I wonder too. Last November I blogged about starting to make a felt advent calendar. And then I didn't post any more about it. So the answer to your question is "No"--I didn't finish it last year. But I got a lot of it done and we used it for a little while--but then we were packing up to leave for Christmas anyway.

But Christmas comes every year, so I had a second chance to pull out the calendar and begin work on it again. I never posted pictures of how far I got last year, so here they are:

A row of six pockets and 11 ornaments.

The snowflake is my least favorite ornament--I may end up changing it out for something else, but I love the acorn. I made this one last year with Jonas in mind--he loved to go out on walks and pick up "atorns"!

Pumpkin pie and name ornaments. Obviously baby Wy needs one this year.

Holly leaves, Christmas tree, and a wintergreen mint.

A candy cane, drum, and Christmas light.

I put it away after Christmas and pulled it out a few weeks ago. I haven't gotten tons more done on it, but as of December 1st this year I have now 12 pockets sewn on, and almost as many ornaments to go up. I need to double both. (But there's ton's of great ideas here.)

So obviously I have some more work to do, but at least I have a few weeks to do it in. But the same problem as last year still exists--I have a lot of other holiday projects and presents I'm working on as well. Only so many hours in the day. . .

Cirque Mechanics -- Steampunk Entertainment Review

2011-12-02T12:55:00.000-06:00

We watched Boom Town last night --the current touring show of the Cirque Mechanics. The show takes place in the wild west in the 1860's. The storyline follows a prospector, feuding saloon owners, forbidden young love, and the antics of the town kleptomaniac (a sweet-looking girl). Though, not advertised as such--it's true steampunk entertainment.

The program describes: "Cirque Mechanics explores the relationship between man and machine. Inspired by early mining equipment and the spirit of adventure that brought prospectors and entrepreneurs alike out west searching for gold, Boom Town, features innovative and one of a kind mechanical apparatus that serve both as scenery and performance prop.

These telegraph poles were vertical most of the show, but during one act the ropes let the poles swing up and down for the acrobats to interact with them. In a very impressive way-- I might add.

During one scene two girls perform a trapeze act swinging from the saloon chandelier--which itself is created from an old wagon wheel.

A trampoline act takes place on moveable metal ore-mining carts modified to frame trampolines. Though this act was the second act after intermission they did not take the time to set up the stage during intermission. Instead during an scene representing mining for gold the cast worked to assemble the track segments and push out the carts with the audience watching.

That is steampunk-- Not covering up or hiding the mechanics of how things work, but exhibiting them and celebrating them.

There were some more fun acts as well. A scene with a silhouette screen where the town kleptomaniac is going through her haul from the day. A dancer en pointe dancing and hand balancing on palm-sized disks three feet above the saloon table.

But the jewel of the show (and the steampunk entertainment) was the trapeze act on the man-powered crane.

A man climbed a rope ladder up to this reclined bicycle apparatus that was connected to a rope that went through a pulley at the end of the track. The other end of the rope held the trapeze.

(Crane rehersal photo credits here.)

During the performance the man would pedal backwards along the crane to pull the acrobat higher off the ground, and pedal forward to move himself forward towards the pulley and lower her rope down

Then there were two performers to either side holding on ropes that were strung through the crane. One man pulled to make the whole crane spin clockwise; the other man pulled to make the crane spin the opposite direction.

Beautiful--truly.

So beautiful that Jeremy admitted to forgeting to watch the graceful female acrobat performing on the suspended trapeze--he couldn't peel his eyes from the beautiful machine.

The show was amazing. A number of the troupe are veteran Cirque du Soleil performers. The show had a clever storyline that pulled all the acts together, and it was very family friendly. We took Owen (6) and Jonas (3) and they loved it. (And to tell the truth it held their attention better than the Muppet movie we took them to the week before.) The show goes east from here. If you have the chance I would highly recommend taking advantage of this most excellent production.

Macy's Parade

2011-11-28T08:59:00.001-06:00

The Thanksgiving Jeremy and I were engaged I was doing an internship in D.C. so Jeremy and I drove up to New York to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The streets were packed. because the weather wasn't too bad, so in essence we got to see the balloons float by--we didn't see much in the terms of a "parade."

The next year I sat by myself in Jeremy's grandma's den and watched the parade while Jeremy played X-Box with his cousin upstairs. Perhaps Jeremy didn't fully understand my devotion to the Macy's Parade even after I had him drive me through the crazy streets of NYC to get me there.

Needless to say--this year I headed over to my mom's hotel for the two of us to get our yearly fix of helium and leotards. We didn't watch the whole thing--we had other tasks to attend to, but just as we were leaving we saw this gem of an act. Watch out Rocketts--here come the 610 Stompers!

You're welcome.

Festive Individual Pats of Butter

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here's a last-minute trick for thanksgiving dinner.A lot of times people forget about butter for the delicious homemade rolls so they plop a stick of butter on a plate in the middle of table, unfortunately it's rock-hard an so no one is able to use it anyway.

So what you really need are those individual pats of butter like they have at hotel continental breakfasts. Here's how to make your own--but cuter and way more festive than the little foil-wrapped things.

Take two sticks of butter and place them between two sheets of waxed paper. Start rolling.

Roll between 1/2 and 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top layer of wax paper.

Cut into individual pats of butter with miniature cookie cutters. I used the fall leaves set.

You can do these a day or two in advance and keep them covered in the fridge. The good thing is if you forget to set them on the table until right before dinner they will still soften up enough to spread because they are so small. Plus, they really are festive.

Kids in the Kitchen

2011-11-21T15:49:00.001-06:00

Recently we bought this huge "deli-packaging" 3 pound block of cheese.

The price was great, but it's a bit difficult to handle when trying to grate cheese--particularly for kids. The simple solution was to cut off a 1/2 pound chunk (1/6 of the block--not that there's any reason to be technical)and hand that to Owen to grate.

Kids helping out in our kitchen is not an option--simple helps like this make it easier on everyone. And we need cheese in our delicious fall sweet potato and black bean enchiladas. (Though my kids have made me cut way back on the chilli powder--if it means they are eating more sweet potatoes and black beans I guess it's ok. )

Crab Cooker Soup Crackers

2011-11-16T15:20:00.001-06:00

We have a family favorite restaurant in Newport beach called The Crab Cooker. We love to stop by for take-out bowls of clam chowder and their homemade soup crackers.Not very much like the typical delicate oyster crackers, the Crab Cooker crackers are more like big shooter-sized crunchy balls. I wondered how difficult it would be to make them.

Last week I made a batch with relative success. I was making a batch of breadsticks and thought I would experiment with the dough. I rolled some of the dough in to marble-sized pieces and let them rise a bit with the breadsticks. I baked them for the same amount of time as the bread, giving the pan a nice shake to roll them around halfway through, and it didn't seem too long.

They were nice and crunchy and a bit hollow in the middle for some give.

We ate them with my mom's homemade clam chowder. (Mom's recipe is a "New England" clam chowder, or a cream-based chowder, though the Crab Cooker serves Manhattan style clam chowder which is tomato-based.)

Have I ever mentioned how much we love food in our house?

Western Potato Rounds

2011-11-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Western

Potato Rounds

These won the "best in show" vote from the lone husband-sneaking-around-the-kitchen at my cooking and recipe swap group the other night. He said "from the man's point of view" they were the clear winner. The theme of the night was hors d' oeuvres.

2 large unpeeled baking potatoes
vegetable oil
1 cup (4 oz) colby jack cheese
6 bacon slices
1/3 cup green onion slices (about 2)
¼ cup barbeque sauce

Preheat oven to 450*F. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Brush both sides of potatoes with oil. Place rounds on a baking stone or sheet pan. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp, drain and crumble. In a medium bowl, combine bacon, cheese, and sliced green onions in a bowl and toss together. With a basting brush, brush each potato round with barbeque sauce and sprinkle the cheese mixture on top. Return to the oven. Bake 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Adapted from "The Pampered Chef Stoneware Sensations" cookbook. Makes 24 hors d’oeuvres.

I'm sharing this recipe here.

Cleanup

2011-11-09T11:38:00.001-06:00

We've been doing some cleanup around here the last few days. The computer's been running pretty slow.

Oh, that's why--I guess we'll take care of that.

And we've had more mice. Jeremy's parents came into town and brought us a better mousetrap. How is it better? Well, let's just say that we've had 4 glue traps out for two weeks and caught one mouse. Jeremy's dad set up these 2 traps last night before bed, and we caught 6 mice in as many hours.

I really feel badly for the poor little mice. But if they didn't insist on pooping in the corners of the toy room I might let them stay. As it is they are gone, and I will sleep easier tonight.

Amy and Rory

2011-11-07T11:55:00.000-06:00

Jeremy was explaining our Halloween costumes to someone, classifying them under three levels of geekiness: That the personae were from a science fiction TV show. That they aren't the main character (title character) of the show, and that the costumes were from a specific episode. I would also add that it's a British science fiction tv show. Though really--the American fan-base is growing.

I've already discussed my love of Doctor Who, and I've succeeded over the last year in getting quite a few of my family members interested in the show as well. Our characters were in the most recent season. Amy and Rory--the doctors traveling companions.

Here we are doing the classic "Season 6 Stance" that was on almost all of the promotional materials. I was telling a friend that our costumes were actually very "good", that every single piece of our outfits was chosen for a reason--however most people looking at us wouldn't think they were much of a costume.

It's only because they didn't know what they were looking for.

Here's what they were looking for. Here's one of the official posters for season six. (I know they aren't actually in the "Season 6 Stance" here but you're just going to have to trust me on this one.)

So with this reference picture you can see that Jeremy and I did a pretty good job on our costumes-eh? (I even dyed my hair red, but my hair is so dark that no one noticed.) And yeah, I carried this picture with me so I could show the three people who asked what our costumes were.

Here Amy is running through the desert, so you can see her capris and hiking boots. And you can see her pen swinging around her neck.

Yes, the Sharpies, Jeremy and I are wearing them around our necks on lanyards. They explain the marks on our faces and arms and hands.

See the problem is Doctor Who and his companions are trying to track these aliens, who use a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion to make you forget about them when you aren't looking at them. So Doctor Who devises this system where they mark themselves when they see the alien so that they can track their sightings, even though they don't remember seeing them and don't know what it is that they've seen--just that it's an enemy.

The fun (or scary) thing about the episode is that you are following along from the characters' perspective, so Amy is exploring this room and looking around not seeing anything, but then she looks out the window and lightning flashes and she and you see her reflection and she has these marks all over her, and they keep multiplying but you aren't actually seeing the aliens! Ahhg!

Such a fun concept for a show.

Agh! There one is. River Song pulls off her pen and marks on her skin saying, "I see you, and I see you."

Here's the one person at our church party who we knew would "get" our costumes. It's Doctor Who! (From a different season.) Thanks Doctor--you made all our hard work costume-hunting worth it.

Was It Halloween Out There?

2011-11-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

It was Halloween here as well. According to Harry Potter, Robin Hood, and the Great Pumpkin.

All our costumes were simple and low-key this year, and I liked that!

Baby Wyatt was a pumpkin. In fact the same pumpkin that Jonas was two years ago. And the same pumpkin that Owen was five years ago. It's fun--and I feel the need for a photo montage of the three pumpkins. . .

Jonas was Robin Hood. I sewed up a green tunic and made his little hat. My Jo-Ann's receipt sitting right here says I spent a whole $2.44 on his costume for the green fabric and two sheets of brown felt--not bad.

I let him choose his feather out of a bag of multi-colored ones I had. Owen thought it needed to be red-but Jonas loved it.

Owen was Harry Potter. (Here he is striking his best "spell-casting" pose.)

I just sewed up Jeremy's Masters regalia about a foot to make Owen's Robe. He really wanted glasses, so on the day of our Halloween party Jeremy went to the mall and found a set of Harry Potter glasses and wand for like $10. (I can't argue I guess--he does bring home the bacon around here.) The sad thing was Owen had a really cool knobbly stick from the backyard for a wand, but when he saw the lumpy plastic one we couldn't convince him that his old one was way better.

For the party he wore my Griffindor t-shirt from back in the day (when I was a cool nerd) and his wizard cap. Of course three days later on Halloween night he couldn't find a wizzard hat in our house to wear--even though there are two of them. . . a mother can only do so much.

Come back next time to see what Jeremy and I were wearing (and the detailed description you will need in order to "get" what we are wearing at all!)

Chocolate Chip Ghost Pancakes

2011-10-31T11:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!

We had chocolate chip ghosts for breakfast.

Whole wheat flour doesn't lend for a very ghostly appearance--but we'll take it anyway.

Then we started our day with a flannel board telling of The Chocolate Chip Ghost. It's a silly story about some ghosts who disobey their mother and end up in a lot of trouble.

We get it out every year for family home evening around Halloween time. Here is a free printable version if you're interested.

We'll just be spending the rest of the day having spooky fun and trying to stay out of trouble.

The Internet Makes Me Look Smart

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

The amazing thing about the internet is that I can say something like: "For Oktoberfest in Germany they make these giant Lebcuchen hearts and hang them on strings for you to wear around your neck. And they have sayings on them like conversation hearts." --Then the internet allows me to, within a matter of seconds and a simple image search, prove it.

There is the truth, written in pixels.

So then--because I'm right-- everyone has to go along with my plan of making 7,500 Lebkuckenhertzen for our very intimate gathering of an Oktoberfest this year.

The boys helped decorate their own.

And I made everyone wear them.

Yes you, Bratwurst man.

And me. Prost!

(Side note: This year we used a different kind of root beer extract for our homemade root beer. The flavor was excellent, but it was almost colorless! And my newest dream is to gather roots and herbs and make my own flavor of root beer. . .)

Yes, Oktoberfest this year was a success. It was everything I dreamed it would be, because I had the internet backing me up!

Until next time world wide web, until next time.

Bravery and Big Girl Points

2011-10-26T10:56:00.000-05:00

When I was 19 I went on a summer study abroad to Vienna Austria. I'd been living away from home for a year and a half already, but there's something very extreme about being separated from anyone you know by an entire ocean!

The overnight plane rides are tough, you get to your destination after hours of not really being able to sleep on the plane, and right when you get there it's morning and "time's a wastin'," you're in a foreign country after all--go make the most of it.

Our first day in Austria we went around as a whole group of students with our program director. It was rough. Everyone was tired (and cranky) and most of us didn't know each other yet. One place the director took us to go walk around was the Naschmarkt--a big outdoor market. Some kids bought lunch there to eat, but my queasy-from traveling, and not-enough sleep, and nervous about this whole experience tummy wouldn't stand for it. Vienna is sometimes called a gateway to the East and this market showed it. There were so many foreign fragrances. As we walked past Kebab stands and huge barrels of purple olives, I could hardly stomach the smell.

Later in the day we returned to the Austro-American Institute for a reception and to meet our host-families. Ing. Rosch picked me up and drove me home to where she had a dinner prepared for us. A dinner composed of all the strong foreign smells of the Naschmarkt. Now, my mother raised me well--so I ate my dinner--white asparagus and all--but it wasn't easy.

After dinner Ing. Rosch took me out for a walk. I don't remember exactly where we were--but I knew I was going to be sick. Maybe it was by divine intervention that someone she knew walked by and they took a minute to talk to each other while I ducked behind a shrub and threw up my dinner. I really hoped she didn't see. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, but really--it was out of my control. Back in her home that night, I threw up again in the bathroom.

I didn't know what else to do, so I went to school the next day. When it finally came out that I'd been sick all night my director sent me home to go lay in bed. ("But go pick up some Coke and pretzels from Billa first," he said.)

After a day in bed and some fruit tea from my host, I was feeling better again and more comfortable with my surroundings. But as I talked with my Mom from a phone booth across the street, I felt how alone I really was. Mom hadn't been there to hold my hair out of my face and rub my back while I threw up. She hadn't been there to buy and prepare me snacks for my sick tummy. I was on my own. Either I was going to be a "big girl" and take care of myself or no one would.

So at some point thereafter I started awarding myself "Big Girl Points" for things I had to do or experiences I went through that were difficult for me, or required courage . The points didn't give me anything but my own personal satisfaction about being a Big Girl and taking care of myself. But it was important for me to recognize those moments, particularly where I went against my regular nature of shyness and insecurity and conquered.

First on the list is 10 points for throwing up all by myself. The list also includes 4 points for not being emotionally crushed by a woman being grouchy with me at a store. There's 2 points for not crying out of embarrassment when I was checking out at the grocery store and had forgotten to weigh my bananas (you have to weigh your own produce and print out a price label) and had to jump out of the line where people were waiting behind me and go back and weigh my bananas. I also gave myself 3 points for walking home like a dozen blocks when the street car stopped running one day in the middle of the route.

Living in Austria for four months alone was hard for me. Living in Washington DC for four months was hard for me. Being away at college for four years was hard for me. Living here in Kansas the last 5 years has been hard for me. It's not that I don't love my family as much as other people love theirs and don't want to be around them. I wish I could be always near my family. But I would never trade my experiences of living in Europe or anywhere else I've been--there have been so many cultural and life-experiences that I have gained living different places.

But that's not all. There are also personal benefits. And though I hate to say it--I would not have made as much personal development if I'd had my whole family along. For personal development you have to have personal experiences. If my mom had been in Vienna with me I would not have had to work so hard to overcome my insecurities. I wouldn't have needed to be so brave if my mother was with me because I would have relied partially on her bravery to sustain me.

The concept of Big Girls points has carried on just a bit through a few major life events since then. Certain things come up in your life that YOU are the only one that can take care of it, and you just have to be brave and face it because there is no alternative. My siblings sent me flowers after my ectopic pregnancy, and the card read: "You earned a LOT of Big Girl points for this one."

All of us will face these experiences in our lives. We just have to be brave. Carry on. And if it helps--assign random points to ourselves when we do a good job.

(Read more stories of bravery here.)

Babies Eating Soup

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year--we've started eating a lot of soup.

My boys really love soup, and are very good about scooping out all the delicious vegetables.

But I want that wholesome goodness of the chicken broth to get into their tummies too and keep them well-nourished through cold season.

Enter: soup crackers.

After they finish scooping out their veggies we give them a few crackers to soak up the broth yet give them something scoop-able so they can eat it. And they do.

Even the baby.

Steampunk Tea Tray

2011-10-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

I picked up this tray a long time ago at the thrift store. This woman was dropping off a few boxes of stuff and saw me eying it and told me I could just take it. It wasn't the cheesy stenciled leaves and apples that caught my eye. I was interested in it because it was wooden, and had those pretty metal handles.

I recently decided that what it needed was a good steampunk makeover. I started by painting the bottom of it black.

I found a Steampunk wallpaper image from a now-defunct wallpaper website. It was just about perfect ratios to fit in the bottom of the tray. It looks like an old piece of folded paper with some astronomy-type diagrams and sketches on it.

I printed the image on cardstock and Mod Podged it into the bottom of the tray.

I followed the example of Sara at The Steampunk Home and concocted a story to go with my home decor.

It seems our heroine was studying some diagrams when she heard the bell at the front door. Looking at the clock she realized that whomever was calling on her would be right to expect an afternoon tea. So she distractedly gathered some jars of preserves, not realizing she left her notes at the bottom of the pile.

I'm Done! Almost. . .

2011-10-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

Last night I finished my quilt! Well I finished the quilt top. Now I have to move on to batting, backing ,and binding. That will be a process too-I'm sure. I still haven't decided how to back it yet.

For the most part it all worked out really well. It was my own special style of quilting. As I worked along (and made mistakes) I kept thinking, "I bet a real quilter would go back and fix that." But what can I say. I'm a casual quilter, so I made a casual quilt top.

I used every single piece of the fabric (24 fat quarters) and kept my informal pattern going up until the very end when I had to make a concession to finish it up. But I think it looks fine, and I am sewing together the final bits of scraps to make an accent strip through the backing--I really hope there's enough for it.

PhD Fever

2011-10-12T21:23:00.001-05:00

Jeremy has been really buckling down to work on his PhD.

Last week he was up in the architecture library asking Maxine, his favorite head librarian, for a favor, There was this book that one of his advisers had recommended for him to took at. But when he looked it up in the catalog it said the book was already checked out and not due to be returned until January.

"Is there any way I can find out who has it?" He asked. "Just to see if they are actively using it or if I might be able to take a look at it. Or can we have it recalled or anything like that?"

"Well, let's just take a look at who has it and then maybe you can go ask them about it." said Maxine. She sat down next to a student employee on the computer and typed a few things in. "What's the book called?" she asked. More typing and clicking. Then the student employee looked up at Jeremy and back down at the screen. Maxine looked closely, then up at Jeremy.

"According to the system-- you have the book checked out Jeremy. You picked it up last week."

=crickets chirping=

At least no one can say he isn't working--it's apparently his organizational system that is failing, that's all. Or his brain is giving out. One or the other. Lets just finish up this PhD thing quickly--just in case.

Wizards in the Backyard

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Jeremy has a book of Wizard Craft that is full of projects closely resembling a lot of items and words and stories from Harry Potter, but it's not "officially" Harry Potter. Owen has been looking through at all the projects recently and announced to me "The first thing I want is a wizard hat. Mom, you know how to sew so that can be your job."

We went to the fabric store and picked out fabric and it really was very easy. First we had to make a pattern from a sheet of newspaper.

We measured around Owen's head. Multiplied that measurement by 4 then divided that number by 6.28. That length was the length of each of the two straight sides of the hat pattern. (see the picture) I measured them on the corner of the newspaper so they would be at a 90 degree angle from each other. Then draw a curved line between them. (The most precise method is to use a piece of string the right length anchor it at the point of the pattern and swing the string from one side to the other marking a curved line on the pattern.)

We pinned the pattern on the fabric and cut it out adding a half inch seam allowance. Then we cut out a piece of interfacing the exact size of the pattern. We ironed that on the wrong side according to the interfacing directions. With right sides facing we sewed the two straight sides of the hat together. Then turned it right-side out and sewed under the brim.

Of course, even though I had asked him if he wanted one three times while I was working on Owen's and he said "no," once I was finished Jonas decided he did want one. So (sew) repeat.

The wizards danced with their giant marshmallow torches. . .

Around the fire pit, celebrating the first fire of the season!

Trouble in the Library

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I got scolded by a librarian yesterday.

Because my baby didn't have shoes on. See, there's a "shoes must be worn at all times" policy in the children's room of the library. There are signs posted and I was aware of it. Earlier in our visit I even re-shoed Jonas who had taken his off as he sat down on the floor do do a puzzle. I reminded him "We wear our shoes in the library."

But Wyatt (who would have normally had shoes on, but Jeremy had prepped him for the outing, and most-likely not knowing that the boys and I were planning to head to the library after dropping him off at campus was unaware that Wyatt probably needed shoes on, and therefore he did not have shoes on) was toddling around and caught the attention of a passing librarian.

"He needs to have his shoes on." She said while looking at me. I was picking up a basket of books that Wyatt had knocked over, and hadn't responded as she continued to look at me with her eyebrows raised. As she was obviously waiting for a response I answered in a plain tone, "He doesn't have shoes."

I then picked him up and sat down with him on a floor chair and nursed him. Thus proving my point to the library gods that: he's just a baby. I was aware of the rule, and ordinarily would have not been operating outside of it, but I really didn't think it was that big of a deal for a baby to not be wearing shoes.

(He actually does have shoes.)

Baby Food Jar Pumpkin Lanterns

2011-10-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like. . . Halloween!

Owen and I worked on this project over the course of a few days. We left the materials out at the table, and would sit down and work a while every so often.

It's a basic painted Mod Podge craft with recycled babyfood jars and scraps of tissue paper. We used two colors of orange and one color of green. We did the orange first, let it dry then turned it over and pasted on the green, and then the black faces. You get the most translucent glass-like look by applying a layer of Mod Podge over the top of it all as well.

We clipped them onto a string of white lights, and the give a brilliant orange glow.

Book Club Reject

2011-09-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

So I was in charge of picking the book for book club to read this month. I brought in In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I'm a little nervous that the other ladies are going to kick me out. I mean, it's non-fiction, and how interesting can a book be that has only a head of lettuce on the front cover?

I read the book for the first time a few years ago and found the whole thing fascinating. Pollan's explanation of the current food culture in America and where it came from. And then his knocking it all down back to common sense and non-fanaticism--just simple real food. It's so interesting --and radical even-- while not being radical at all. .

And I'll admit--I buy it.

I love the book because it ratified so many of the feelings I've had about food as a young adult responsible for feeding myself and now a young family. It justifies my desires to learn traditional foods and preparation methods. It encourages our family and dinner-guests-included dining practices. It supports my lack of guilt about not consulting the FDA or AAP (or whomever) for the "latest research on what to start when" once Wyatt showed interest in solid foods. (Because "latest research findings" have been completely different for each of my three boys born in '05, '08, and '10 respectively.)

And mostly I love the book because I love food! (And having a blog is bad for that--I constantly want to take pictures of the visual poetry created by my peeled sweet potatoes sitting on the cutting board, because they just look so orange and so good, and the anticipation of thinking up something delicious to make with them fills me with excitement!) And Michael Pollan shows that enjoying food is completely desirable --that the alternative (an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating) is more detrimental than to love "food, not too much, and mostly plants."

But really, I don't mind if the other ladies don't see it like I do. They don't have to agree with the book like I do. But this is my passion. It's what I enjoy reading about, talking about, watching movies about. So I brought the book for the discussion I want it to spur. I just hope the ladies will give it a chance.

Syrup

2011-09-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

One chipper Saturday morning in college, our apartment of three girls headed over to our friends' (three boys) apartment for a waffle breakfast. They had the table set with an assortment of toppings for the waffles. There was maple syrup of course. Peanut butter graced the table as well I'm sure, but the one that surprised me was corn syrup.

"You aren't seriously going to slather your waffle with that are you?" I asked the tall boy. "It's corn syrup--straight sugar."

"Of course I am." he asserted, pouring it on his waffle. "It's the exact same thing the maple syrup is made out of anyway!"

I couldn't argue with that, but just because it was the truth about the "naturally flavored" maple syrup didn't make it right--didn't mean that I wanted to embrace that fact, and skip the maple flavor and go straight to the corn syrup.

Jeremy and I use exclusively pure maple syrup in our home. The number one response I get to that is "But it's so much more expensive!" Sometimes followed by, "With how much my kids use we'd go broke!"

There are a couple of reasons why this doesn't deter us. First of all. Real maple syrup is a lot thinner than the corn syrup based version. So it spreads out thinner and will therefore last longer if used accordingly. Also the higher price helps us consider exactly how much we do let our kids use. Even the smaller containers that pure maple syrups come in from the store help give a visual reminder to use it sparingly so we teach our kids that. Although a natural one--it is still a sugar syrup.

Recently I've been interested in making fruit-based syrups as a way of providing for our pancake syrup "needs." (Though one day I'd love my very own maple bush (grove) to make real maple syrup.) I was contemplating how to get a thicker syrup rather than just adding sugar to make fruit juice more "syrupy". Of course pectin was the answer and I don't know why I never thought of it before. I was excited to become familiar with Pomona's Pectin which is a citrus-based pectin as opposed to the standard apple-based varieties. Pomona's can use significantly less sugar and still "jell." You can also use honey and other sweeteners--not just white sugar.

The website suggested for making syrups to use 1/4 the measurements of pectin from jam recipes as a starting point. My first try was with elderberries foraged from a couple bushes in the university gardens. Jeremy had a large elderberry bush at his house growing up and he remembers his dad making elderberry syrup when he was a kid.
I'm excited for the potential of making more natural and lower sugar syrups for our family pancakes. Though truth be told--maybe elderberry wasn't the best choice of fruit for trying to go low sugar!

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Labor day gave us occasion for the bi-annual church picnic and dessert contest. This time it was a homemade ice cream contest. I decided to try and come up with a s'mores ice cream recipe.

My first thought was using marshmallow cream. When I looked on the internet for inspiration I found two different methods for marshmallow ice cream, and both started with actual marshmallows. One version melted them with milk, and the other version put them in a blender with milk. I opted for the melting type--it seemed more "s'morey."

I used the recipe for marshmallow ice cream here, but toasted the marshmallows first like this custard-style recipe to add to the fire-cooked s'mores flavor.

The marshmallows are then melted into the milk mixture before churning.

In the end the marshmallow ice cream tasted pretty good, I used whole milk and cream--2 cups of each, but I really felt like the marshmallow flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked. Next time I would lower the amount of cream to one cup. Then it would be the same proportions of milk and cream in our Lemon Basil Ice Cream (which was the other entry we took to the picnic) then hopefully there would be a less-diluted marshmallow flavor.

The other important elements of a s'more are the graham cracker, and the chocolate. So I thought I would put in crumbled graham crackers, and then either chocolate chips or fudge or both! But then my mom noted that the graham crackers would get soggy--drat.

I realized that dipping the graham crackers in chocolatewould create a sogg-proof protection for the crackers. I just melted some chocolate chips in a bowl and stirred in the crackers and spread them out on a sheet.

The boys oversaw Jeremy and the ice cream churn. The marshmallow milk mixture had set up again in the fridge so it was in a more frothy marshmallow top layer and a milk later underneath. We just dumped it all in and assumed it would get mixed up fine in the 30 minutes of churning.

The chilled chocolate-coated-graham-crackers waited.

We folded them into the finished marshmallow ice cream and hardened the whole batch in the freezer.

I had a lot of fun tinkering with the idea and coming up with a delicious final product. Jeremy and my ice creams both brought home awards. Afterwards Jeremy said he doesn't think we should enter the contest next time because we always win and get attention for our sometimes "out there" entries.

So I kind-of see his point, but at the same time I LOVE this kind of thing. I was scheming for the three weeks after they announced the contest until the picnic day. And it's not like Jeremy and I are professionals or anything, we're just food enthusiasts.

So what do you think? Keep at it, or "let the other girls have a chance to exhibit!"?

Sleeping and Crying

2011-09-19T17:00:00.000-05:00

Jonas came into bed with me last night. He has done so on and off since his very first night here in this house as a newborn. All of our children have always had their own bed, for independance, and have always been welcomed into Mom and Dad's bed for many other reasons. Ease of night-time feedings, extra snuggles, mid-night comforting, and family bonding.

The last time Jonas came to bed with us in the night was about two months ago. At that point he was coming nightly--if not two times each night. Wyatt, it seemed, was trading off with him, coming once or twice a night at the opposite hours. Also, the both of them were having trouble going to sleep as well, Wyatt was screaming and crying himself to sleep (whether I was holding and rocking him or not), and Jonas wouldn't fall asleep without Jeremy and I laying in bed with him for 30-60 minutes. I was about done with it all, but of course the whole situation is of our own making--right? We made the bed--now sleep in it!

Well, I was tired of sleeping in it. So I made a bunch of changes, moved rooms around, disassembled bunks, put up and took down pack-n-plays and attempted to completely overhall our sleeping arangements while causing minimal amounts of crying and distress.

Now two months later we are breathing (or sleeping) free. Jonas and Wyatt keep each other company at bedtime so that neither of them are lonely. (And Wyatt doesn't provide the excess amount of "company" that Owen was providing --keeping Jonas wound up all night never sleeping if we weren't laying with him.) Surprisingly night wakings for both boys have significantly decreased since the change. And Owen is in his own room with a bit more responsibility and independence. He has a lamp and is allowed to read for 15 minutes before turning out his light and going to bed.

One evening last year I sat in a home as an invited guest, hearing amiddle-aged man give advice, about just letting babies cry to sleep--that it works and simplifies life.

I didn't have a lot to add to that conversation in an attitude of notwanting to contradict my host. The truth is--I don't not let my babiescry. In fact sometimes I think crying is a valid way of releasingfrustration. But I don't believe in just letting my childrencry as a rule.

I accept that when I am not able or willing to meet every desire of mychildren, in the moment they feel it, that there will be some crying involved,and I am ok with that--as a part of helping my children know that the entireworld doesn't revolve around their whims. Allowing our children to cry isshowing respect for their feelings of disappointment or frustration--lettingthem know that we believe that they are having very strong feelings rather than just "shush"ing and bouncing them immediately away. However; in my maidenhood dreaming of one day having children I didn'tplan on having children so that I could just leave them to cry alone in theirroom.

What I dreamt of was snuggles and hugs, and cuddles and kisses. So Idon't, as a rule, just let my kids cry. But that is the benefit of beinga parent, we understand our children best and don't have to chain ourselves toone person or anther's advice on the "best" way to raisechildren. We make our decisions one child at a time, and one naptime at atime. Which for us means that sometimes there's crying, but always there's loveand security.

Steampunk Picnic

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I took the boys along to our very first Steampunk event that didn't take place inside our house. It was a Steampunk Picnic.

The first person we met was Scarlet--and she is adorable!

She came up and asked if she could take our picture.

"Cheese!"

The night before I made a new hair clip since I can't wear my tiny hat with short hair.

I was really happy with how it turned out for a quick project.

Scarlet is a member of the Airship Nox. A fine dressed group.

Our Picnic host and co-founder of the Great Plains Steampunk group, Jeremiah, is in the middle. To his right is "Beans?" For the life of me I can't tell whether or not a lot of these people are using real names or an alias!

This guy (Perrin?) who is the airship Nox Captain (Maybe?) was showing of some whip skills.

He was so nice and let Owen try it out.

Huyah!

Owen was having a great time, and loved being dressed up.

Jeremy and I loved that there was a party keg of our favorite Virgil's root beer!

We ended the outing with a run around the fountain to cool down before our long drive home. But it was worth it. It was fun to meet some new people and enjoy some steampunk fun "in the flesh" and not just virtually!

Remembering

2011-09-11T23:11:00.002-05:00

On September 11, 2001 my roommate woke me to watch the news coverage of the events unfolding back East. In my drowsy state it was hard to comprehend what I was seeing and what was being said. My first class scheduled that morning was a media arts seminar. We sat together in the room and watched news coverage over the projector. There was comfort in the companionship of others. In the afternoon I had a German class scheduled and returned to my dorm after checking in with the instructor. I hadn't heard from my sister yet, and I wanted to be available for the phone call when it came.

Evelyn was in Washington DC on internship that fall, and she--as we all do as survivors--feels that pull to remember, to share, and to preserve her memories of that time in our country's history--for ourselves and our children. Here are the words she has written. Thank you for sharing Evelyn.

Many thoughts are in my head and yet so few I can articulate enough to share. But I feel like I should say something, I was there after all and I too will never forget. Events like these shape our character, if we let them.

There are too many points to make, too many lessons to be learned, that to share one without the other seems incomplete. I was in DC that day, I watched as a proud city turned to fear and chaos. We watched from our apartment rooftop as the Pentagon burned for days. We passed the big gaping hole of wreckage where the plane entered and there was a similar one in our hearts. We lived in the threat filled days that followed with fear and sadness, because for us our world had changed. For all of us, as fellow countrymen, our world had changed.

As I remember that day a flood of memories come rushing back and all the emotions that accompany them, working in the Smithsonian that morning when I heard about the first plane, listening to the events unfold on the radio as they happened, not knowing what was going on, thinking at first it was some sort of an accident but then learning the terrible awful truth, hearing of the plane in PA and then in DC, not knowing how many more there were and if so where they might land in a city I called home. Not being able to get home, not living in a time of ubiquitous cell phones when you could account for all your roommates and friends, not being able to phone home and assure them you were all right, seeing people running in the streets, the fear in everyone's eyes. Finally making it home, quickly turning from the Spanish Station that was showing the jumpers, watching the towers fall, still not knowing what more was coming, not leaving the house, going to the roof, watching the Pentagon burning and waiting, waiting to see if there was more to come.

Pushing past the sad memories, there is one of courage and hope that has stayed with me. One of the hardest things in the days after 9-11 was passing by the Pentagon Metro Station. There was a solemnness that fell like a heavy cloth on the passengers as we passed by the now dark station. It was a reminder of the loss that so many were suffering and the utter helplessness we all felt at not being able to do anything. I remember the first day the station was open again, the passengers getting off in silence, passing all the guards with all their guns. Walking back into a world that would be forever changed. Going forward with courage and a belief in their country and their cause. I wanted to personally thank each one of them. That is who I applauded then and that is who I pay tribute to today. Those that lived and faced the loss, the fear, and the unknown, those that carried on.

Melonade

2011-09-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

We bought a Honeydew Melon that wasn't super sweet, so we decided to turn the rest of it into melonade. I love the bright green color that it is. It would be perfect for some goblin green drinks. I might have to go buy another honeydew and freeze the juice for Halloween. It's pretty viscous as well so Jeremy wants to try floating some of those giant tapioca pearls in it--to make it look more creepy.

We just made up the recipe but here it is if you want to try.

Melonade Recipe:

1/2 large honeydew melon, seeded
3 large lemons
1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)

Slice honeydew into chunks and place in blender, or use an immersion blender. Puree until smooth. Squeeze lemons into the melon juice. Pour through a strainer to remove fibers and lemon seeds (it takes a little while). Chill in fridge. Serve cold.

I'm sharing this idea at:

Steamtember

2011-09-07T12:27:00.001-05:00

The steampunk fever comes in waves, and we've definitely been "on" the steampunk wave recently. I got antsy to work on some more accessorizing because it's something I am more able to do with just small bits of time.

First, something basic, I added a gear charm onto my pocket watch pendant necklace. I love it ten times more with the gear on it.

Yeah, I wear it to church. =smirk=

But I wanted to do something a little more creative as well. So I worked on a bracelet after being inspired by Jen's. (Don't tell me if you think her's is way cooler.)

The leather straps are from an old pair of shoes I had that were ripped out. I attached the buckles on to the end of each strap so the two straps could buckle to each other. The cameo was a little brooch that my dad and older brother got me when they went on his 6th grade class trip to Italy. (My sixth grade class trip was a walk across the street to the city pool.)

The little gears were purchased $4.99 for 12. So I spent $.84 on the bracelet. And the little one on the left even spins around. (The boys love that part.)

I'll probably wear this to church too, just because that's to only place I wear accessories, apparently. I like how it almost looks like a watch, so you don't at first notice that it is anything different. Jeremy says it's like a secret insignia, so that when I slide someone a note or some money they can recognize I'm a steamer.

Hopefully that is so they will give me the Steampunks-only 15% discount. I'd be all about that.

This Counts as School Right?

2011-09-06T13:16:00.001-05:00

Owen has been requesting for a while now that he be allowed his own blog. (We'll leave out any commentary on what that says about me.)

So I decided Owen and I will start a blog together at a different spot in the blogosphere to share our homeschool adventures. That way this blog won't be overrun with homeschool blogging (except when I want it to) and there will be a more appropriate space for me to post all the silly pictures of him that Owen is often asking me to post on my own blog.

I'm leaving most of the editorial decisions up to him in terms of blog layout, themes, colors, fonts and pictures. The blog title was his choice--the tagline was my choice. So if there is a lack of continuity across the whole blog--it is apparently intentional. We aren't done with all of it yet, but we got our first two posts up. If you are interested--come have a look:

Boys All Together--This Counts as School Right?

Summer is Over?

2011-09-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

The public pools in town were open for their last day on a Sunday two weeks before the public schools and university started, and three weeks before Labor Day.

For the life of me I can not figure out why they would shut the pools down so early. I would think that there are a lot of people out there like me, who realize that the summer is winding down, and thinks, "Quick, we need to squeeze in a few trips to the pool before school starts," only to realize that it's too late--the pool closed last week.

Pool passes here are priced outrageously, and this year they decided to sell punch cards instead, because they didn't like allowing people to use the family passes when they were claiming that "Yes all four kids belong to me." But maybe these punches could be more affordably priced, or the passes could seem a better value if the pool season was 90 days long instead of 60.

It is still plenty warm enough to swim with our record-breaking over 100 degree days we have been having, so weather is not the issue.

Yesterday I looked up a lake near Topeka that has a swimming beach and slides I wanted to take the boys to. We called information and it was closed. "Like, closed-closed?" Jeremy asked the woman on the phone. "It won't be open for Labor Day weekend?"

"Closed-Closed." The woman responded.

So take that Summer. The Parks and Rec departments statewide have declared that you are over. So since we can't tolerate you by taking a quick dip in a cool pool, why don't you just move on already and make way for pumpkin patch hay rides and apple cider.

No hard feelings--see you next year.

Identifying Home Garden Pests

2011-08-31T13:09:00.002-05:00

I was standing in our front yard talking to my friend. She looked across my tomato plants and said, "Oh it looks like you've got something eating these." Exactly as she was saying so I gasped loudly, "Oh my goodness! It's huge!"

It was a giant tomato hornworm (See his little horn tail in back?) And he and his little buddy had been having quite the feast in my front yard tomato and pepper patch.

Leaving behind poor plants stripped entirely of leaves, and little half-eaten tomatoes

We found the trixy pair and fed them to the chickens. Chickens love bugs. If you pay extra at the store for "free range" chicken eggs and the package also says vegetarian-fed, you can know that the eggs must not really be that free-range at all, because chickens--like humans--are omnivores.

We've also got some neighborhood bunnies. This one likes to hang out under the beehive and go hopping away when I check on the bees. The bunnies haven't given us too much trouble with our garden this year. It's a good thing too, because I think Jeremy is just waiting for any excuse to make a pot of wild rabbit stew.

Back to School Dinner

2011-08-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

It was time for our annual back to school dinner Sunday night. Though Owen won't be going anywhere this year, I still enjoy the sentiment of celebrating a new beginning. And this is most-likely (we can only hope) Jeremy's very last back to school dinner ever. That in itself is worthy of celebration.

It's good for our little family to join together in something "special". Something that helps us feel love for each other and a sense of celebrating life together. This year we had honey balsamic salmon fillets, steamed zucchini and yellow crook neck squash, and a slice of rustic pugliese (from the bakery), along with our favorite Italian soda.

Pulling out a lace tablecloth and some fancy glasses helps to dress up our Corelle dishes. I'd pull out our china too, but --in full disclosure-- one of the "champagne" flutes did not make it through cleanup of last night's dinner.

For dessert we had a Honey Polenta Cake with mascarpone. The food was delicious, the company was superior, this is a tradition that we love to celebrate.

Honey, Honey!

2011-08-26T13:15:00.006-05:00

Jeremy and I checked on our bees on Monday. We were looking for one thing--Honey! We added a superstructure on top of the two hive bodies when we got back from vacation. The honey from the supers is what we will extract and harvest for our own use.

The bees had been busy drawing comb on the new frames in the super. It always takes them longer the first year because they have to form all new honeycomb, Later years they have a base layer of honeycomb to just add on to so they can get started with the honey-making sooner.

We saw the very first two cells of capped honey in the super. The bees won't cap it until it until it's ready. They fan it with their wings to evaporate excess water which would cause the honey to ferment. When it's ready they know, and then they cap it.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any more capped honey already.

But then we started inspecting the other hive bodies and found that the upper hive body was entirely filled with capped honey! That's good for a number of reasons. First we know that they will have enough food this winter. Second, we know that from here on out, for the rest of the summer, the bees are working for us! So we will definitely be getting honey this year.

We had been looking for honey because our friends were going to do some extracting that night. They sell at the farmers' market and were running low on honey for sale. So despite not having honey of our own to harvest --yet-- Jeremy and I each took turns heading down to work with our friends to begin learning to process of extraction.

Since it really was helpful to have a few hours of help, they gave Jeremy a quart of honey for his time. The boys wanted to try some right away, but since it was bedtime we suggested they wait until the next day. We didn't have any bread for toast, but I'm an Arizona girl, and I can't think of anything better to enjoy golden raw honey on than hot fresh Indian fry bread!

When I was little living up in the White Mountains we called them "Navajo Tacos" because they would serve the fry bread topped with beans, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes with a dollop of sour cream on top. They would serve them in the lodge at the ski slopes we went to on the reservation. After skiing we were always hungry enough for the taco version, but the dessert version of the fry bread with honey drizzled on top can't be beat for a sweet treat.

My mom got her recipe for fry bread from the newspaper in AZ. Sometimes newspaper recipes can turn out the very best! This is one of those times. So here is my mom's Indian Fry Bread Recipe, and. Don't forget to follow all hot oil kitchen safety rules--especially with kids around.

Indian Fry Bread
Serves 8

4 cups flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl powdered milk
1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups warm water
Shortening or other frying oil

Melt shortening or other oil in a large skillet, dutch oven, or wok. (Should be at least 3/4 inch of oil.) Heat to 500*F.

Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder, salt and milk powder in large mixing bowl. (You can do this by hand or with a dough hook.) Gradually stir in warm water. Mix until dough forms a ball and comes clean from edge of bowl. Knead until elastic. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Pat into circles and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

Slip one dough circle into hot fat. Turn once when underside is brown. Remove from oil, drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough.

Changes

2011-08-24T13:48:00.000-05:00

We aren't sending Owen back to school this year.

It's been a decision long-in-coming, hard and yet very simple at the same time. Debates rage all around the issue of schooling, and yet all we can do is be true to ourselves and the desires we have for our family and our children. Our peace about the decision has come as we did our best to block out any "supporting" arguments one way or another and trust our hearts.

One year ago I got Owen dressed in a new outfit, packed his lunch and put it in his backpack, took his picture on the front porch, and walked him down to school with his little brothers in the stroller--along for the ride. I dropped Owen off to line up in the gym with the rest of his class, then waited down the hall for his class to walk by on the way to their room. I saw him walking along with the other kids, took his picture as he smiled at me, walked on past us, and disappeared into his classroom. I sighed a brave sigh, then turned around to see this:

Jonas, absolutely devastated at being abandoned by his brother cried the whole walk home. (He hadn't known we were walking somewhere together to go leave Owen.) And as I walked I wondered what I was doing to our little family.

Kindergarten was great for Owen. He made friends, learned to read, had a great teacher, and didn't even get in trouble 1/8th of as often as I had expected. There are always little things that bug you, but the main thing that bothered me was simply: Owen was gone from us. And as the year went on it was the same issue: he's gone all the time.

I have always acknowledged homeschooling as an option for my children. We did a "mommy preschool" for Owen, and when we started Owen's speech therapy through the school district services I was a little wary wondering--but what if I don't put him in the school district kindergarten afterwards "will they be mad?". I started considering homeschooling more seriously mid-year for Owen, and felt immediately strongly drawn to the idea. But at the same time I did not feel an urgency, to remove him immediately.

But the more I thought about it the more I felt like this is what we wanted. It's as simple as that. Not "it's the best choice," or "most beneficial," or he'll be the smartest this way," or anything like that. Simply--it is what we want.

What we want is for him to grow up with his brothers. That's how we always imagined our family. For them to learn together, and play together, and develop invested relationships that they can each fall back on for strength later in their lives. We want them to be outside in the natural world. To spend uninterrupted hours playing out in the beautiful fall weather that will quickly be here. I want my children to recognize me and Jeremy as sources of knowledge and guidance in their lives (though not the only source of course). And I want to be privy to watching my children explore and learn, develop and grow. But back again to the most important feeling--that I want them to do it together.

Looking at that picture of Jonas breaks my heart. If the major goals of sending Owen away to school can be accomplished without sending Owen away to school--then that is what we choose.

We choose together.

Quilting Progress

2011-08-22T07:42:00.013-05:00

My quilt is coming right along. Not quite as quickly as if I didn't have little hands that get into my work if I leave it unattended in the daytime. I'm thinking that I may need to take a time out to sew a fun sewing machine cover to keep the tension dials on my machine safe from curious fingers.

This picture shows most of my progress. I've now completed that last upper corner on the left panel that isn't quite done in the photo. So that puts me halfway done with the quilt top. Batting, backing, and binding are another matter of course.

We had our first 90-degree week. It got plenty hot again of course, but it made me realize that fall weather is not that far away. That means I need to get busy in the quilt department. Owen and Jonas both need twin-sized quilts for this winter. It may still take me until Christmas--we'll just have to wait and see.

On Working Hard

2011-08-17T11:39:00.001-05:00

Kitchen Duties

Last week I spent some quality time in my kitchen with three large bags of peaches. I was washing them, scoring them, blanching them, peeling them, slicing them packing them in jars. The jars were boiled then packed with peaches, filled with boiling syrup, lidded, banded, then boiled in a waterbath canner.

After a few hours of this I thought to myself that the whole process was taking a "long time" and I was ready to be done. But I caught myself and laughed. It's laughable that I think that 3 hours of rigorous labor is "enough for this year," so maybe I'll move on to fruit leather and other more "fun" projects. I had produced enough fruit for us to have one quart of peaches as a family per month until peach season rolls around in 2012.

WOW! What a bountiful harvest!

Not.

I considered the privileged life I live-- that "I'll just pick up some more canned fruit off the overflowing market shelves next time I make a quick stop there!" I tried to imagine how much work would be involved for me to actually put away enough fruit for my family to have peaches once a week through the winter, and fruit of some kind at every meal.

I've been reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder in preparation to sharing it with Owen. It's amazing how much people used to work. Work. Like rigorous, sweat-causing, get hungry but can't stop yet, wake up in the middle of a night snowstorm to do necessary tasks or else your animals/livelihood will die work.

And so this weekend I had Owen helping me with the blueberries he wanted to can. He was interested in the box of labels I had bought. So, though I bought the labels for jars I planned on giving away as gifts, I said "sure let's label the blueberries." We had nine jars. I labeled the first one to show him how it was done, and let him do the rest. After five jars, he told me thanks, but he was done now. I laughed to myself about what Almanzo Wilder would think of my son tiring after writing out five labels for jars, when he was expected as a nine-year-old to plant entire fields of potatoes and pumpkins himself.

I laughed, told Owen I appreciated his input, but he needed to write those last three labels.

Can it Forward

2011-08-15T11:15:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a bit of "fun preserving" this summer. (Canning doesn't have to be all serious and practical.) It started with the dandelion jelly.

Then I made a triple berry syrup sweetened with honey.

I got crazy with peaches. Canning a number of jars of quarters in a light syrup. And using my new thrift store dehydrator to make peach fruit leather, and dried peach slices.

After all these projects Owen said to me "Oh Mom! I know, we need to get some blueberries, and can them--for the winter."

He's obviously been reading Blueberries for Sal and thinks he's a genius for coming up with the idea to do the same things for ourselves. Not like preserving food for the winter isn't what I've been doing already for the last two months!

But who am I to argue with an enthusiastic 6 year old? So we went and bought some blue berries.

We canned them on Saturday since it was National Can-It-Forward Day.

And who am I to argue with a national day where everyone is supposed to can something?

So we canned blue berries. Owen wrote out some labels for them. I love how he mostly ignored my example spelling. He sounded it out in his head. . . each time. So each label is spelled differently.

Hopefully they will be good for muffins and oatmeal this winter. And hopefully Owen is getting something out of all the canning going on around here.

Master Plan

2011-08-11T12:08:00.003-05:00

We, as parents, have the responsibility to fully educate our children.

If we choose to we can delegate some of that responsibility to other teachers, mentors, and institutions, but particularly when our children are young the responsibility to see that education is happening still falls back onto the parents.

In the book A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion (Which IS a book on home-based education, but don't dismiss it because you aren't a homeschooling family because you'll completely miss where I am going with this conversation) it talks about creating a Master Plan for the education of your children, and I found it completely fascinating. Diann Jepson outlines nine key elements of an effective master plan. Take a look:

Academic Programs--Some people may immediately fill in "Public Schools K-12". But I think it is important to realize that that is a choice. As I've considered the education of my children I've found some of the complete resistance to doing anything differently very interesting. There is this idea that using the public schools is "just what you do" because that's why it exists. But there are other options for academic programs. There's online schools and private schools and home schools. As far as home schooling, some people might use full prepared curriculum that they purchase, Other people simply have a house full of good books that they open often with their children.

Classics: your list -- If you ever said "Oh I loved reading that book when I was little. I will definitely read that to my own children one day." That is where this list comes from. It's important to realize that classics exist in every field of study--who were the pioneers of that field and what did they produce? Art, music, writings, autobiographies. There's more to education than text books.

Cultural Literacy, Breadth and Depth -- Listing and considering all the topic areas that you find important in your children's cultural literacy can help you see where your personal list of classics, might need some supplementation. Art, citizenship, geography, philosophy, major fields of science, architecture, government, foreign language. Parent's all over put their children in "extra-curricular activities" Do we choose those based on how they are helping develop our children into more well-rounded people, or because it was the cheapest option or what their friends were doing?

Adult skills --There's always one freshman that gets to the college dorms without really knowing how to do their own laundry--I won't let that be my kid! There's also cooking, knowing how to sew a button back on, and perform first aid. Maintaining a car and bike, and basic household appliances and whatever skills might be important in your family situation. And most of this skills education should happen at home, by way of example and teaching from parents, or neighbors or grandparents.

Organizational Programs --These are programs in existence that you want to use to help your children develop skills and attributes you desire. Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts, 4-H, Suzuki, dance/science/math camps, church youth achievement programs, continental congress simulation etc.

Experience -- Some experiences are things we just think our children should have experience with before reaching adulthood. Public speaking, a musical performance, lead a group, create a small business and similar things.

Places to Go -- Climbing mountains, visiting historical sites or other countries, a rafting trip or survival trek. All the places that going in person will help to round out your children's education.

God --Obviously our plan for the spiritual education of our children falls outside the responsibility of any state-run schools.

Family Relationships --How will you nurture the family environment you desire?

After you decide the "what" your children's education will consist of on the educational master plan, you outline the systems of "how" you will see to it. So "Enroll son in 4-H at age 7, support his activities in it" goes on the plan as well as, "Family read-aloud time for a half hour every night at 7:30," to get through your list of literature classics.

Reading through these elements of an Education Master Plan and how to create systems to implement it was so empowering for me. So much of it was the type of intuitive planning I did before I was married and before I was a mother.

I grew up in a rich learning environment. My mother had studied early childhood education, and was always providing learning opportunities for us. She loved learning herself and that came through in the household we grew up in. We went on hikes, visited museums, took classes, read books and I grew up desiring to do many of those same kinds of things with my own children.

It can feel like a burden but is very important to realize that we are responsible for the education of our children, and also to realize that even if we've chosen to put our children in public schools that that doesn't mean their whole education is covered. We, as parents, have work to do.

I Eat Weeds (And So Can You)

2011-08-09T09:10:00.001-05:00

Weeds?

I noticed a new young patch of lamb's quarters growing in the back yard, so I thought we would give them a try. I'd heard that you cook them up and eat them like you would spinach. But I usually eat spinach raw, so I needed to look up a recipe.

Sandra Lee had a recipe for Parmesan Creamed Spinach, with pumpkin pie spice. That sounded too interesting to not try.

We picked the leaves off their stems and washed them in a big sink of water. (Owen spun them dry--he's the resident salad spinner.) Then added the lamb's quarter to the cream sauce.

Jeremy walked by and decided what it needed was toast. . . and perhaps a fried egg?

It was delicious. They just tasted like greens with a cream sauce. No strong flavor in any direction. Not bitter like dandelion greens. Jeremy suggested next we could try them baked in lasagna--that's the only other cooked spinach recipe we can think of and it should work fine.

Eaten anything adventurous lately?

Being Useful

2011-08-07T21:02:00.003-05:00

My little boys love trains, so we have had the opportunity to view quite a few of the old Thomas the Tank Engine videos.

All of these little model engines work together on the Island of Sodor under the direction of their railway controller Sir Topham Hatt. (They're British.) Over and over in these little train escapades you come to understand the greatest crime an engine can commit is causing "confusion and delay," and the compliment that they wish the most to hear from Sir Topham Hatt is to be called a "really useful engine."

It seemed a bit silly after a while. What is "confusion and delay" after all, and the praise of being "really useful" seems hardly anything to brag to your mum about. That is--until I started to consider those two phrases in my own life.

My little boys can be quite a handful, they are energetic and rambunctious, but the times when I get the most frustrated with them is when they are doing what can --seriously-- be best described as "causing confusion and delay." Things that aren't inherently bad, but it's just the wrong time for them to be doing it, or it is just exactly the opposite of what would help us get out the door, or get dinner on the table, or whatever it is I'm trying to do at the moment. It's a great phrase because Sir Topham Hatt simply states with clearness the offense, without exaggerating any false gravity about it all, just "You have caused confusion and delay." And yes, occasionally I will say that to my boys.

I've also found it interesting to ponder over the fact that the original books were written by an English Clergyman the Reverend W. Awdry, and wondering in what ways Christian morals may have made their way in--since they were originally written for his own son. For a long time I felt like there wasn't much to offer by way of real character training other than weird things like: don't switch jobs with your friend unless you ask permission from the controller first.

Today though, I had a quick thought, to call a friend and offer a specific service. Nothing big and, quite very possibly, not even necessary. A bit later, that friend called back, responding to my message with, "That would be a lifesaver!"

And so tonight I've been riding that wave. That feeling above all feelings--that I was "a really useful engine" to someone with a small need. I hope I will always remember to not try and seek glory for myself. To remember that the most important thing is not to become famous or acclaimed, but to serve my Father in Heaven by serving those around me.

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God. . ." [Alma 29:9]

And when my time on earth is completed I hope God will look over my life and with a nod of approval, tell me simply, and without extra fuss, that I was "really useful".

Local Burger

2011-08-05T09:43:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we visited a restaurant that's been on our list to visit for four years. Its called Local Burger, and the food they serve is all --you guessed it-- local.

The restaurant is about an hour and a half away from us in Lawrence, but we were driving out there to see a pediatric dentist for Owen, so we stopped on by.

The have profiles up on the local Kansas ranches that they get each of their proteins on the menu from. They have grass-fed beef, elk, buffalo, turkey/chicken and pork. The buns are made locally from organic Kansas flour, the cheese is made in Kansas, and the produce is all local and organic.

And it was delicious.

They also had coloring pages for the boys of the former lives of their lunch--happy animals on the Kansas prairie-with identifiable native flora as well.

And the place was breastfeeding friendly for Wyatt and me if needed, because what's breast milk after all, if it isn't guaranteed local?!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks installment of Real Food Friday. Here's the most recent issue of the seasonal food and food storage hybrid newsletter that I compile for the ladies at church.

In The Season Thereof -June July

The Bad and the Ugly

2011-08-02T10:30:00.002-05:00

Blogging is a funny world of polished words and Photoshopped pictures. Sometimes I just like to see the hints of "real life" among all the make-believe.

The "real life" of Owen's Mariokart party begins with my sending out invitations with the wrong date on them. I tried to make phone calls to fix it--but let's just say we may need to go sit out at the park with a cake in one month's time and let Owen celebrate his birthday for the third time this year.

We tried to make rock candy for favors. At first I didn't add enough sugar, so they sat for three days without growing a single crystal. Then I re-boiled the syrup and added more sugar. Crystals started growing within an hour and by the end of the day I couldn't pull half the sticks out because the crystals had grown and were stuck to the bottoms and edges of the jar. So then I scraped all the crystals out re-boiled the syrup with more water. Let them sit for three more days while they did nothing. At which point I said, "I'm sorry Owen--but there is not going to be any rock candy at your birthday party."

The other tragedy of the party preparation was when someone (we're 90% sure it was Jonas) took a wooden hammer to the unfinished pinata busting open its side. So we had to patch it all up, but the balloon was no longer inside to help it hold its shape so then the pinata got pretty lumpy. But in the end it made it and I still really loved the turtle shell pinata.

So I will personally give my guarantee of a blogger of many years now that for every beautiful dinner scene or fantastic kids party we see online that there were a half dozen disasters, that the blogger chose to not let define their whole event. With realistic expectation we all can expect these things to come up in our days, but just let them slide and still thoroughly enjoy the rest of the festivities. And I plan to.

EDIT: (Oh, yeah. And I didn't mention yet the chigger bites we all got from being out at the park that morning --and how is it fair that I got the most? Oh Kansas, I'm going to be so so sad to leave you behind in a year.)

MarioKart Birthday Party

2011-08-01T11:53:00.002-05:00

We were on vacation for Owen's birthday, so we promised him a party after we returned. He decided he wanted a MarioKart birthday party. (I guess we have a theme this year of video game birthdays.)

He decided on a MarioKart-themed party. I found some race flag cups and plates at the local party store (Thanks for the store credit Anna B.) which I was really happy with since they matched the party theme but weren't "matchy." We had the party in the morning to avoid the heat.

First the kids all made Mario and Luigi hats or Princess Peach crowns for party hats. It was nice to have a gathering activity while we were waiting for friends to show up.

We set up a race track obstacle course for the kids to race around, two at a time. We used yellow streamers to mark the course.

They had to run around "steering" with a Wii steering wheel.

The course went through a tunnel.

Over a ballance beam bridge.

And don't forget to grab an item box on the way! (These raisin boxes that I just wrapped a piece of paper around ended up as a real favorite from the party.)

After the racing was done it was time for birthday cake.

This Yoshi and Mario are what we got from Hot Topic.

Then we had a green turtle shell pinata. Owen and I just made a paper mache balloon pinata --we're pretty proud of the final product.

The pinata was filled with pouches of Mario Brothers fruit snacks. It was really nice once they broke open the pinata to say "OK everyone get's two pouches." No hoarding or tears involved.

Finally, we sent everyone home with a marshmallow mushroom pop. It was a great party and lots of fun. I love the gathering of inspiration and coming up with the ideas to fit the theme of the party. Being outside and doing the obstacle course and pinata are perfect birthday activities for little kids. Coloring and cake while sitting down. An hour and a half total. It was all perfect and not too overwhelming for the kids or anything.

I--on the other hand-- needed a nap when we were done. (And along that same vein come back tomorrow for my "keeping it real" wrap-up where I'll share all the things about the birthday-planning that didn't go perfectly!)

I'm sharing this party at:

Hot Topics

2011-07-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Jeremy and I took our three young boys into Hot Topic.

Of course I had some trepidation about doing so but I had a very specific reason for being there. I wanted to find some small MarioKart figurines (maybe key chain guys or something) that I could use to decorate Owen's birthday cake. I was sure Hot Topic would deliver, but I was definitely worried about what else the boys might see or say while in that store. "Mom what is that?" "Mom, how come [insert anything random and embarrassing here]?"

Luckily I quickly found exactly what I was looking for. Some little candy dispensers with Mario Karts on the top that I was sure I could pop off and use like I wanted. So far so good--we walk to the checkout counter and to our waiting friendly cashier "Shawn." I see that he has a barbell through each side of his lower lip. Owen stands next to me and looks up at the young man.

I hold my breath.

Shawn starts ringing up our merchandise Owen leans toward the counter and asks Shawn, "Do you believe in God?"

As I'm getting over my shock and trying to figure out where that question came from, I can't decide whether or not this is worse than if he had asked the guy why he had piercings all over his face.

"What?" asks Shawn.

"Do you believe in God?" Owen repeats.

"Sure--I guess so." He stammers.

I notice his t-shirt has the words "Lamb of God" printed across it. (A band name I'm guessing.) "Ah," I say while giving Owen a push away from the counter to go wait by Jeremy. "I think he was reading your shirt"

"My shirt?" Shawn looks down.

"He's a pretty advanced reader for a kindergartener," I say with a chuckle as I take my bag and walk away from the counter and the group of people waiting in line behind me.

As I walk away I think how funny that exchange was, and how though it was sort of awkward--it wasn't as awkward as I would have thought. And who knows, maybe Shawn needed that question yesterday. Maybe it's time for Shawn to address some hot topics in his own life.

Quick Change Vintage Sheet Curtains

2011-07-27T06:59:00.000-05:00

My living room curtains were feeling very heavy and wintery. I wanted something a bit more airy to reflect the bright summer days happening out of doors.

With plans on moving in a year I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on fabric for something that might not work in the next house we live. And to tell the truth--I wasn't really interested in spending time to sew something because I'd rather spend my time on my quilts right now.

I found my answer in a thrift store sheet. (It fit my parameters and was an eco-friendly option as a bonus.) I have two windows so I took a queen-sized sheet and cut it right down the middle lengthwise. The proportions may have been a little better for cutting it width-wise, but I liked the vine pattern better going in the up and down direction.

Also by cutting it in half length-wise It already hat this great folded-over edging on the top and bottom.

Perfect for running a curtain rod through.

(Though my rods are a bit formal for these curtains--it's ok.)

I honestly didn't bother to even hem the edge I cut (ripped actually). I can always go back and do it on a day when I have more than 5 seconds to work on it. But meanwhile I have a new set of summery muslin curtains That only cost me $2.25 for the pair and required zero sewing. (And as a bonus were friendly on the environment.)

Grilled Cookies

2011-07-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

The boys and I gifted Jeremy with a charcoal grill for Fathers' Day this year. Since we were on vacation I just drew him a card to tell him.

("Fireball" is what Alton Brown calls his grill.)

Jeremy's reaction is always really hard to read when he opens presents, but I'll just say that eventually he was really excited about the prospect of buying a grill when we got home.

One problem with our little house is that it's 1100 square feet segmented into 8 little rooms and we have just two window air conditioning units. What that means is that we never turn on our oven from June 1st through August 30th. It's just not worth it. But that can be a bit limiting to our menu. So Jeremy and I have been excited to use his grill to expand our summer-time culinary options.

Everyone has heard of grilled pizza. There are different methods for doing it, but after reading of one person using their pizza stone inside their grill I suddenly had a strike of inspiration about what else a pizza stone inside a grill would allow us to do.

Grilled Cookies!

I will begin first by saying we have a very well-seasoned pizza stone. So the cookies had no problem with sticking, but may have on a newer stone.

Second, some of the cookies got very burned bottoms before we came up with the pancake method.

Third, I still think the method could be improved a little. Perhaps by having a terra-cotta pot that we preheat in the grill and then invert over the top of the cookies to help them bake from the top as well as the bottom.

We began by preheating the pizza stone over hot coals. Then we quickly placed the cookie-dough balls onto the stone and closed the lid. After a few minutes we checked on them. Then we checked on them again. The bottoms cooked super fast on the hot pizza stone but the tops were totally melty, so we improvised by implementing "the pancake method." In other words--we flipped 'em.

What we ended up with were grilled chocolate chip cookies that looked more like pancakes, but were delicious, and did not involve raising the temperature inside our own home any more than opening the door once to go out and once more to go back in.

So we sat ourselves down in front of our window-unit AC with tall classes of crisp, cold milk and enjoyed our grilled chocolate chip cookies.

Cookies on a grill--perfect for the man who taught me to love chocolate brownies so dearly.

Fair Treats

2011-07-25T08:00:00.002-05:00

After dinner on Saturday Jeremy announced we were going to have our dessert at the county fair! I had almost forgotten that it was fair weekend and would have been crushed to miss my annual opportunity to enjoy a funnel cake.

We love taking the boys to see the fair animals. They need that exposure to the animals, both those they are familiar with and those they aren't. Last year we watched--yes watched--a pig give birth while we were at the fair. Now that's educating our children!

The boys were right at home running up and down between the chicken cages. And They love sticking their fingers inside all the bunny cages to feel their soft fur.

My favorite part of the evening was --in anticipation of the dessert he had been promised--Jonas saw the home garden produce on display and lunged at a plate of cherry tomatoes exclaiming, "Oh! There's some treats!"

Oh how I love my boys! (And don't worry--the produce survived.)

All I Need to Know I Learned from Video Games

2011-07-21T13:20:00.002-05:00

Back in the year 1989 my older brother (of the young and ~~nerdy~~ brainy type) wanted a Nintendo Entertainment System. My parents--sure that only bad could come of such a device--vowed that they would never purchase one for us children. However, my crafty brother found the loophole in that statement and called a sibling meeting.

If Mom and Dad wouldn't buy us one then we would pool our collective resources and buy our own! He started a revolution.

Over the course of weeks and months we saved our money--waiting to reach that magic number of One Hundred Dollars. I was only 7 at the time and while I think at one point I had $15 in the pot--I pulled some of it out for some other fickle desire and in the end I made a grand contribution of $5 towards our NES.

And boy did we love those Super Mario Brothers. But y'know, just one game gets boring after a while.

At Christmas that year Mom shocked and surprised us all (though technically still standing by her declaration of not buying a "Nintendo" for us) by buying us a game for our Nintendo. . . TETRIS. "It makes you use your brain." Mom said, and no one complained.

As it turns out, the principles I learned playing TETRIS at seven years old give great perspective on how to deal with life having kids.

In TETRIS you work with random pieces trying to fit them into holes to make nice smooth lines (Which then clear up to leave more free space for you to work in.) Level one you try and work quickly and eventually get into a nice stride until you complete the level.

When you hit level two suddenly the bricks are coming significantly faster. Bricks start landing not quite where you want them to jumbling up your clean slate a little bit. Maybe you stack up a bunch to one side in an unorganized pile just to give yourself a minute to think. Then you get back into stride--a little bit faster of a stride than before. You clear out the bricks in the middle and then clean up the mess on the side. and maybe--just maybe--you feel so confident in that level that you might even push the "down arrow" to make the bricks fall even faster. Until you hit level three, of course, and the panic sweeps over you again. But don't worry--pretty soon you'll hit your stride again, and you'll be ready for level four.

And so it is that playing TETRIS is a lot like having kids. When each new one comes along you're sure you'll never be able to keep up with all the demands of that "level". The laundry itself is just building up too fast--you stack it off to the side of the laundry room hoping to get to it later--once the baby's taking a nap and the other kids settle down for a snack. But then you realize that your six year old is now big enough to get his own drink of milk --and one for his brother too for that matter-- and so it's not quite as difficult at that speed of life as you thought. So you think sure. . . bring on level four!

This metaphor is just one that's been on my mind lately after a discussion with a friend who just had her third baby. So don't get any ideas--I'm not planning on having to visit to Dr. Mario any time soon.

Winner!

2011-07-20T17:53:00.000-05:00

Woops! I had scheduled this to post this morning when I was leaving town--but I set the time for PM on accident--well, here it is:

Thanks to everyone who played the giveaway game:-) I maintain that blogging is fun when there is interaction included--blogging minus interaction equals not as much fun. I tallied up entries for all the comments--added the facebook likes and had Jeremy pick out of a hat. So if you are sad about not winning--it's his fault!

And the winner is:

Jen Wayland. . . lucky!

Send me your address at email4jeanette at gmail dot com and I will get it in the mail!

I'm off to the dentist this morning with Owen so I'll return here tomorrow morning.

Making It Up As I Go--Begining Quilting

2011-07-18T08:00:00.005-05:00

I saw this amazing pack of fabric when I started looking for fabric for the circle around quilts. It's called "Gypsy" and I loved it. It just seemed kind of bohemian, kind of 70's, but with really bright versions of 70's colors. Technically it was marketed as a "quilt kit", but in reality it was just a set of coordinating fat quarters with an extra large piece of fabric for a binding, along with a quilt pattern. But I saw the fat quarters as basic supplies for any quilt I wanted. So when the ridiculously overpriced kit went on sale 50% off I bought it.

The quilt pattern that came with it was for a smallish full-sized quilt. So I began by laying out trace paper--gluing it together at the overlapping seams--to the size of a full quilt. Out of curiosity I laid out the fat quarters on my quilt pattern. It looks like there would be enough the cover the surface of the quilt twice. So I'm curious with all the cutting and sewing to see how far the fabric goes.

Looking at my inspiration quilt, I identified the lines of the main quilt segments. The first line goes straight across the middle.

So I took my huge trace paper quilt pattern and folded the bottom half up (valley style). Then with the points to the center of the quilt I folded it in even thirds.

You can see how the pieces are not just triangles. The center top and center bottom pieces are triangles but the other four pieces are trapezoids. I then cut the six segments apart--labeling the top side up and labeling the seams that will have to be matched back up ("A" to "A" etc.).

Then I began sewing the pieces using the paper-pieced string quilt method that a friend suggested to get the look I was going for.

This center piece is not yet completed but here is the progress. I decided to cut each of my fat quarters into two six inch and two three inch strips, and I am sewing those together in an organized-random fashion.

I am very pleased with the results so far.

I am undecided as yet of how I will finish it. When I first bought the fabric I thought I might make a new bedspread for my and Jeremy's bed. But I've also been contemplating the need for a dedicated family picnic blanket and think this fun pinwheel-esque pattern would be fun for a picnic quilt. If I was going to do that I would back it with a more sturdy fabric, and maybe use no--or very thin--batting? These are all ideas I hear, but really don't have much experience with. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Another nice thing about large quilt pieces is the quilt comes together more quickly. I have to say this is nice for two reasons. First anyone beginning a hobby likes to be encouraged to continue by quickly seeing substantial results. Second, mom's of three busy boys don't get a lot of free sewing time. So when I only have 20 minutes of sewing time in the evening (after set up and put away time is factored in--because I won't tell you what happened last time I left my sewing machine up and unattended during the day time. . .) it's nice when I can see progress each night.

Do You "Quilt?"

2011-07-15T23:13:00.001-05:00

I've never really been "in to" quilting. Maybe it's because my mom wasn't much of a quilter. We tied quilts, and even hand quilted quilts, but they were always just large pieces of fabric, not pieced quilts. As I've warmed up to the idea of "quilting" I've had two caveats.

I don't want to make grandma quilts.

This caveat has two parts--I don't want to use grandma fabric, and I don't want to use a grandma pattern.

Now I recognize that people love their grandma quilts and and even go to great lengths to recreate old patterns and fabrics and that's fine. If I had had a grandma that was a big quilter then I would probably would be into that too. But I prefer a little more of an updated look, while using the same old techniques.

The other reason I don't like a lot of ~~grandma~~ classic patterns is because they use such little pieces. I respect the historical reasons for that-- our pioneer great grandmothers found an ingenious way to use teeny scraps leftover from clothing construction to make beautiful quilts to keep their families warm in their snow-drifted log cabins all winter long. But these days we buy yardage for quilt making--pricy, designer yardage. So caveat number two is:

I don't want to cut my fabric up into teeny tiny pieces, so small that I can no longer really even see the pattern of the fabric I spent good money on.

So really number two ties back into number one--I like nice contemporary quilt patterns with some large pieces that showcase the contemporary fabrics. Though I sound really pickiy I've actually had two quilts this last year that I have fallen in love with immediately.

This Circle Around Quilt. Such a fun quilt! So I decided--like a novice-- to make not one but two of these quilts. One for Owen and one for Jonas for their big boy bunk beds. I was a good little quilter and bought the magazine for the pattern and bought all the supplies it told me to. But in reality--I think I could manage without the pattern. (And yeah--these quilts are still "in progress".)

I also saw this Sixth Time's the Charm crib quilt. I love it. I love how big and bold it is. And I decided since I heard mixed reviews on the piecing method the author uses (leaves a lot of leftovers), and with the fact that I don't need a crib quilt right now, that I would just wing it, and try to create something similar for myself.

HAhahahaha! I know, I sound crazy. Unless you've met my Dad. Then you know that I am the daughter of Macguiver, and honestly--because of him I usually end up doing most things my own way anyways.

I am actually making progress on this quilt, and I am very excited about it. I'll share my ~~madness~~ method next time.

All Natural Bath Products Giveaway

2011-07-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

Along with homemaking soap I've been experiementing in homemaking other bath products as well. My first experiment (before the soap even) was making homemade lotion bars.

Jonas' skin needs to be kept smooth and moisturized to help the excema. His doctor and dermatologist both recommended Aquaphor. Truthfully the Aquaphor does a great job of keeping his skin smooth and protected. The product's main ingredient is white petroleum jelly. So my problem with using such large amounts of Aquaphor (at least once a day and after every bath) come from more ecologically-minded reasons.

So I started researching alternatives. For a while we used straight coconut oil. We also tried using straight olive oil. Both are great natural moisturizers, but both are liquid in a warm room temperature, so we had some issues with application. I'd heard of "lotion bars" and decided to research them.

It turns out that lotion bars (in my recipe) use the two oils I was already using, plus beeswax as an extra skin protectant. The beeswax is what keeps it in a semi-solid state at room temperature.

I use 1 part by weight of coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax. I priced beeswax at our local craft store, and I was able to get it 1/3 of the price per pound by purchasing it through our beekeeping supply company. Plus it supported local economy instead of a big box.

We keep our bars in a little jar, and just turn it out to use it. It is a great thing for elbows and knees and rubbing good into little dry spots. The boys love using the little bars as well. And the baby loves eating them when I'm not looking--oops, at least I know there's no chemicals in them that will hurt him.

The bars are not the best thing for all-over coverage, so my next experimentation on the radar is for some sort of body butter lotion variation.

I'm starting to see why people get into selling soaps and bath products as a small business. It's because your mind is always thinking of "the next batch" and other experimentations. I may actually dabble in trying to sell some things as well, partially because for Jeremy the idea of designing product labels and packaging sounds just like Christmas.

But as for today we are simply enjoying using these products as a family. And I want to give the opportunity to one of YOU to try them out as well.

A GIVEAWAY! for loyal (and new, and part time) readers of Jeanetics.net You have the opportunity to win:

One 2-ounce beeswax lotion bar (smells delicious), one 3-ounce bar of all-natural fragrance and color-free homemade soap, and one chicken. Just kidding--the chicken is not included.

To enter just leave a comment on this post and tell me what kind of posts on Jeanetics.net are your favorite. (a simplified post labels list is in the right sidebar if you need ideas.)

For a second entry: "Like" Jeanetics.net on facebook and I will automatically give you a second entry into the giveaway. Plus as a bonus I've posted the picture there of me in my mad scientist soap-making getup--it's totally classy.

This giveaway will end one week from today. I'll announce the winner Wednesday July 20th.

The Monetary Value of a Good Vacation

2011-07-11T08:00:00.006-05:00

Vacations (the right kind of vacations) are really good for your life. If the benefits of a good vacation could just be assigned some kind of monetary value, then we all could feel less guilt about the time, effort and money that we spend on them. Since I've recently been in the position to ponder such ponderings--I thought I'd do everyone a favor by laying out the true dollar value --as I see them-- right here:

Being on vacation makes me remember why I had kids in the first place. I've always dreamed of taking my own kids on vacations since taking so many as a child. Even though most of our vacations were accompanied by the soundtrack of my mother reading aloud travel guide books to us--I still hold fond memories of the trips. (Haha-- just teasing mom. I'm glad you read us tourguide books and in fact it's probably all your fault I want to homeschool my kids!)

Remembering why I had kids is worth a good $30. Ten bucks a piece isn't bad --especially since they did cause some trouble on the trip as well. ("Don't tempt me to leave you kids at Grandma's house--I just might do it!")

Being on vacation also reminds my of why I love my husband. Now--I promise all the good things about vacation won't be sappy --just the first two--because it's true. Being on vacation--mimicking the carefree attitudes of our courtship years really reminds me of what I saw in Jeremy that made me choose to stick with him.

Saving the marriage has got to be worth a good $50 by itself. (Yeah that's five Hamiltons.) Although my grocery budget for beef jerky would sure go down. . .

Speaking of groceries-- going on vacation gives me the much needed opportunity to clean out my fridge. Seriously, I was very proud of how little food was left in the fridge when we got back from vacation. A vacation is the perfect opportunity to throw out all the old food and don't forget any spoiled produce on the counter either (like the "one time" I did). And I wiped it all out before putting any new food back in it, and I felt like a very good homemaker.

Good homemaker feelings $20. It really helped boost my spirits (until I looked in the laundry room--"good feelings gone").

Being gone from my home makes me appreciate it more. I come back and it feels like "home." No matter how much I really am ready to move on--it feels good to walk back in the doors of "our house" as disorganized our belongings and strangely laid-out the floor plan is.

Coming home again $100--never underestimate the importance of being happy where you're at--at least for the time being.

But perhaps the greatest reason for going on vacation is the opportunity to get away from it all and experience something new. It gives you time to think, and gives you a different perspective on life. We read books on our car trips bringing us more new ideas to think and talk about. (Hello Ken Robinson?) Plus our trips are full of adventures, both planned and unplanned, both pleasant and unpleasant. So I guess what I'm saying is that the very most important thing that this all boils down to is: more. blog. fodder.

Yes, yes, yes, because a blogger who spends too much time in the blogosphere and never thinks of anything else, or reads anything else or does anything else eventually runs out of anything new and relevant to say. And everyone knows that the ability to articulate new and interesting and relevant ideas in the blogging world is, in fact-- p_r_i_c_e_l_e_s_s!

So don't let the bank-man get you down. Know that each dollar spent on a family vacation is worth is weight in gold in the virtual world of internet storytelling.

Cardamom Pureed Sweet Potatoes

2011-07-08T15:32:00.001-05:00

While visiting my parents I was reminded of my dad's love of cardamom. (It reminds him of Finland--but that's a story for another day.) So when I received a sample of the new Knorr Homestlye Stock, with a challenge to use it in a recipe of my own creation, I immediately wondered how I could also use my dad's favorite Cardamom. This is the recipe I came up with. My family and I have enjoyed it twice now--I hope you'll give it a try.

Cardamom Pureed Sweet Potatoes
Cook Time: 20 min --- Total Time: 35 min
Serves: 8 half cup servings

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes (1.5 lbs total)
2 cups apple juice
1 cup water
Knorr Homestyle Stock (concentrated stock)
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Fresh ground pepper

Peel Sweet potatoes with a vegetable peeler, and cut into a half to one inch pieces.

In a three-quart pot bring apple juice and water to a boil. Add one tub of Knorr Homestyle Stock. Stir until dissolved.

Add sweet potatoes, cardamom and cinnamon. Cover and simmer at a low boil for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Puree the sweet potatoes with a stick blender, or in batches in a food processor.

Serve with a grind of fresh cracked pepper on top.

Variation: For a more rustic texture, omit 1/2 cup apple juice and mash with a potato masher instead of pureeing.

Home Again

2011-07-05T12:32:00.001-05:00

We returned last night from three weeks at my mom and dad's cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona. It was a wonderful trip for all the right reasons. Plenty of time with Nonny and Poppy and cousins and an aunt and uncle. Lots and lots of warm sunshine. Endless hours out of doors. The sharing of favorite hobbies, games, food and more. Plus lots of time for thinking about life and new ideas for projects both big and small.

We'll probably spend a little bit of time reliving our many adventures, but soon enough we will be settled in and working on new ideas!

New Dreams

2011-06-30T13:50:00.001-05:00

Jeremy and I lived in the same town for only the last month and a half of our six month engagement. We made up for the lack of proximity with daily conversations over the internet and telephone. Like every giddy engaged couple we spend countless hours dreaming. We dreamed of our marriage, our homes, our children, our lifestyle.

Since marriage we've continued to enjoy dreaming together, we discuss politics and theory and personal experiences--all these things adding to our collective ideas about life, how we see things and the goals we set for ourselves, and how we see our family's life.

For much of our marriage I've spent the time away from Jeremy waiting for him to come back--whether he's at work or school--so we can "do things" together. So we can do all the things we've talked about wanting to do together. This waiting has continued even since our children have been born. We wait for daddy to come home so we can go to the park together, or work on a project together, because even though Jeremy is doing things without us--I haven't wanted to do things without him. Because these things are our dreams.

It was never our dream for Jeremy's professional life to include a lot of me, but our family dreams were meant to include Jeremy. And so we've waited. We've waited for Jeremy to go to the zoo; we've waited for Jeremy to go to the farmer's market; we've waited for Jeremy to read a new book. All these things are good. Jeremy has to be a part of our family dreams, but now it's time for some new dreams.

It's time for me to start dreaming about my life, with my boys, without Jeremy. Because if we always wait for Jeremy to come home before we do anything we will be missing out on a whole lot of our lives. This seems so obvious and yet it's taken me a long time to come to this realization. When we were engaged I dreamed of our life together--I didn't spend my time dreaming of what our life apart would look like after we got married--but it's time now. My boys need me. My children and I will dream of our future days together--what we will do while their daddy is away.

We need to be active, we need to have fun, we need to learn. We need to do it all while Jeremy is away from us. And we need to not feel guilty about it.

Atop a Homemade Soapbox

2011-06-27T08:05:00.006-05:00

I can identify the exact catalyst for my recent foray into mad science.

Labor Day two years ago we took a family camping trip. Just an overnight-er for the fun of it. But we came back from that trip with Jonas experiencing a horrible flare-up of exzema. It was really the first time he had had any trouble with exzema--but it was bad.

It's hard to say what triggered it. Initially people suggested things as simple as: he was having a reaction to the grass he'd played and sat in while camping. I wondered about the bug spray we had used--though it was the same brand we'd used before. We had recently quit nursing (at 18 months) so we later even started to wonder about things like a milk allergy since his cow milk intake probably increased around that time as well.

For almost a year we treated Jonas with the two recommended products: steroids and a white petroleum-based skin protecting ointment. It worked out pretty well until our family reunion to the beach. Even though we bought an expensive name-brand "natural" baby sunscreen Jonas had a horrible skin flare-up as a reaction to it --and I got fed up.

I reasoned that the current treatment wasn't preventing it was only managing the eczema, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the long-term effects of the treatment. So I wanted to try my own management. A more natural management. I dropped the steroids and swapped the white petroleum skin protectant for olive oil and coconut oil (I've recently upgraded to something a little fancier but that's a topic for another day).

I started to realize how hard it is to control what's in the products we use when they are all made outside our home. I need a basic gentle unscented product, for all the products we use in the home. Any product scent or coloring could aggravate Jonas' skin. But companies are always adding random things in their products for one reason or another--usually to decrease manufacturing costs or increase "perceived value" (Gee, this is sounding a lot like the food industry as well)--And so I started studying practical home chemistry and the useful chemical reaction of saponification. I checked out some books from the library, bought some supplies and made some homemade soap.

I made these bars with three types of fat: olive oil which makes a very moisturizing bar, coconut oil which make nice big soap bubbles, and lard which makes a nice firm white bar. We're almost at the end of our one month cure period which means that the chemical reaction is complete, and so even though the soap is made with lye it no longer contains lye. It contains a little extra oil from "superfatting" the recipe, a lot of soap (obviously right?) and glycerol (glycerin). I was interested to learn that commercial soap-makers remove the glycerol to sell it or use it in other products. My glycerol is still in my soap to moisturize freely.

I'm excited to have a product for my family to use that is exactly what I want--with nothing that I don't want. I might try getting into interesting scented bars for myself or friends, but for now I'm satisfied with a creamy white bar of soap that won't turn my baby into a scaly itchy red monster.

Making Music on the Prairie

2011-06-21T11:09:00.002-05:00

I don't have the opportunity to take my violin out much these days, so I recently jumped on an opportunity to do so.

The youth of the church congregations in our region of the state got together last week to recreate a Mormon pioneer handcart trek. Between 1856 and 1860 nearly 3,000 early members of the church traveled by handcart to the Salt Lake Valley. This activity was to help the youth gain a greater appreciation and understanding of their pioneer heritage.

The trek was a three day camping and hiking experience with the youth pulling their supplies in handcarts through the wilderness of a large ranch owned by the church in Oklahoma. The leaders thought it might be nice for them to have a little bit of entertainment and recreation their second evening. That's where I and some fellow musicians came in.

We were kind of a rag-tag quartet of a flute, a violin, a banjo and a guitar.

I had a book of easy fiddling tunes that included guitar chords. So the flute and violin played the melody (with the flute an octave above) and the guitar and banjo played the chords (the guitar strummed them and the banjo plucked (or picked I don't know their term) the chords.) And we actually sounded pretty good, especially since we only practiced twice since we all lived in different towns.

(Owen sneaking around with the camera)

The youth were instructed in some square dancing and we accompanied the dancing and ended with a few hymns.

We dressed in pioneer costume as musicians, since the youth were dressed resembling period costume as well. I used the underskirt from my steampunk outfit and it worked great. I also had a bonnet, but none of the youth were wearing theirs in the shady evening, so I left it tied on my apron and just wore the headscarf that I had on anyway.

Jeremy and the boys came along as well. We thought about spending the night there, but in the end decided to continue on that night since it was still light out, and we'd caused enough trouble for one night! Jeremy wore a variation of his steampunk clothes as well to fit in (with some new suspenders), and my boys looked adorable in brown pants and shoes with long white cotton shirts.

Obviously we get a big kick out of costuming in our little family. But there is a feeling when you are dressed up that is not there otherwise. (This fact can be used for good or bad purposes of course.) Historical clothing just really helps you to gain a connection with those that have gone before you. It aids in your understanding of them and helps aid in the task of learning the good that their experience has to offer us today.

I loved having the opportunity to provide music in manner that would have existed back then as well. Real live music is something that youth don't get as much exposure to these days either. I was happy to help share my talents to help the youth understand and appreciate the enlivening and uplifting spirit that good music can provide.

Fertility Celebration

2011-06-20T09:08:00.001-05:00

I asked Jeremy the other day if he's ready for the next one. (You know--kid.) He said, "sure."

It's partially a joke because I am still presently enjoying the benefits of lactation-induced amenorrhea. This is the longest I have ever gone without menstruating in my postpartum stage though, and every once in a while I get a twinge of nervousness about it. I'm sure it's connected to the fact that Wyatt and I are still nursing in the night, but occasionally I'll wonder: What if something's wrong and I can't get pregnant again? There are no guarantees in regards to fertility.

I recently read an article of a woman planning to celebrate the return of her fertility postpartum with a party. Before I probably would have thought that sounded strange, or at least not something "normal" in American culture. But this time I'm not so sure. After these twinges of concern I've had over my later-than-anticipated return of menstruation, maybe --this time-- a fertility celebration will be in order.

Really Real

2011-06-17T08:40:00.001-05:00

Owen has been obsessed with an idea lately. We try to encourage any interest the boys show towards food or cooking and Owen was obsessed with making homemade orange sherbet. We watched Alton Brown make it on Good Eats and since then Owen asked about it almost daily.

I cannot even describe how delicious it turned out. It tastes so orange and it tastes so clear. As I was eating it I was thinking about how so many people and us included just don't even know what the "real thing" tastes like. And I wondered if we sat a bunch of people down in a room and fed them the real thing if they wouldn't just instantly be converted to real food because they simply hadn't known what they had been missing?

Unfortunately for some people their taste buds have been assaulted with too much added salt, and too much added sugar, and too many artificial "natural flavorings" for so long they can overlook real food upon first re-taste. But I've seen my homemade chocolate pudding rock people's worlds before, and I'm going to bet that this orange sherbet would do the same.

It sure rocked mine.

Full Circle on the City Farm

2011-06-15T08:09:00.001-05:00

It's amazing to see that our peas on St. Patrick's Day grew from teeny little sprouts,

Into towering plants,

Exploded in blossoms out the top,

Fell over under their own weight,

Provided us with a few days of snacking plus substantial finale harvest,

And have now been pulled from the garden and piled in the compost heap. It's the circle of life. It's life and death. Life and death are all around us and it's good for our children to recognize it. We honor and respect the deaths that sustain our lives.

Trust the Chickens

2011-06-13T08:14:00.001-05:00

We let our chickens roam free in our backyard almost every day. They love to scratch all through our yard, eating bugs and grass.

We noticed last summer that there was a certain weed that they also liked eating. We would pick them and hold them out for the chickens to eat. And they would seek them out on their own as well.

A week ago I was reading a blog that identified (all the way down at the bottom) our mystery weed as lamb's quarters. I'd heard of lamb's quarters before as a wild edible suitable for people to eat as well. I guess we'll have to give them a try sometime.

The scientific name is chenopodium album and lots of people eat it in any way they would eat spinach or other greens. Some people even plant certain varieties of it where it doesn't grow naturally.

I guess the chickens aren't as dumb as people think--maybe we should pay closer attention from now on to whatever else the chickens are eating as well.

City or Country?

2011-06-10T11:25:00.002-05:00

Jeremy finishing up his semester threw me into a kind of panic. All of the sudden we seemed significantly closer to graduation, and "real life". All of a sudden I felt a desire to re-define where exactly where we were headed.

Although the first time Jeremy got some baby chicks (by inheriting them from a highschooler's science project) when he and I were engaged I thought he was nuts--I've grown to appreciate it and desire even more to adopt some of those older practices related to simple living and self-reliance.

If a little is good--then more is better--right?

I love checking in on SouleMama with their move out to the farm this year. Renovating an old farmhouse, tapping Maple trees, raising chickens and pigs and bees. There's so much that seems good and desirable about a life like that.

But lately I've started to feel a lot of pressure about that goal, realizing that we have inconsistencies in our dreams. Mostly realizing that that dream of living out on a farm and spending most of our time and energy working on providing for our immediate physical needs is not the life that we've been preparing for the last seven years of our marriage. We've been in school for 7 years, preparing for a profession most-likely located in the urban setting.

And the truth is--there's so much we love about that idea.

We loved the summer we spent in uptown Salt Lake City. Jeremy walked to work downtown everyday. Owen, Jonas and I had two pocket parks within walking distance, and a number of huge city parks within 5-10 minute drives. We rode the "city train" to the downtown library, to a SLC Real soccer game, and just "around" for entertainment. We would go listen to free outdoor concerts on Thursday nights at the Brigham Young Historic Park. We lived above an ice cream and chocolate shop. We went to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings, and ate at a number of local restaurants. We loved going to explore and enjoy really well-designed public spaces. There was also a zoo, a planetarium, a historic living village, an aquarium, splash parks, up to date public transportation, and an airport 10 minutes from downtown. Remembering all the amenities makes me want to move back there tomorrow!

But the goal of city living doesn't mean I have to give up on all my other goals either. Chickens are legal in SLC and many other large urban centers as well. The small amount of gardening we do is possible in a city particularly if we aren't afraid to tear out our front yard to do it. There are also other opportunities in the city, like community gardens, and supporting local agriculture through a CSA membership or farmers' markets. And I'm not afraid of urban foraging either.

There's a reason we chose to get started with beekeeping this year, as opposed to getting a goat, or cow or something like that. Beekeeping is going on in large cities. When talking the idea of bees over with Jeremy I said how beekeeping seemed like the next logical step for us since we could continue it wherever we go. It's a skill that we can continue to use no matter where we move next--city or country.

When I told a man at church we were getting bees he surprised me by asking "Really? Will they be able to make it where you live in town?" I was surprised because this man is a farmer--shouldn't he know about bees in the city? But he didn't I realized, because he was a country farmer, and Jeremy and I are city farmers. They are totally different ideas. And that was the first time I started to think about my conflicting dreams and which one was really my dream--not someone else's.

There's a continuously growing group of city dwellers that are interested in being self-reliant, and participating in small-scale production practices within their small lots and neighborhoods. Jeremy and I have followed a lot of this development--that's why we know all about bees in the city. The Real Food movement is such a big part of our lives too, along with recycling, reusing, and all manner of "going green". The sense of community is high and a big motivating factor in a lot of these urban groups, and that to us seems like the biggest difference between city and country--and something we desire.

It's true, I would love to see my boys running wild and barefoot through the forest. But maybe my boys will just have to rely on their grandparents for that wild natural play--that's what grandparent's houses and cabins are for right? And at home my boys will participate in wild urban (or at least suburban) play. Chickens, bees and vegetable gardens included. And the thoughts of that idea make me truly happy.

Boys in the Backyard

2011-06-08T13:42:00.001-05:00

The boys are bored and bothering each other. “Everyone put boots on and go out back!” I banish them with an abrupt order. Beneath the abundant beaming rays of sun, the boys begin to blossom. They imbibe the fresh air, taking deep breaths of the balmy afternoon breeze.

Then they break—each one obliged to obey their own beckoning impulses, oblivious to inhibition. Footwear becomes too cumbersome for the job so boots are abandoned for bare feet. The babble of voices bubbles across the backyard.

The baby climbs aboard the bicycle—his toes barely brushing the blades of grass. He bounces above the bike beaming with infant pride.

Jonas begins by bothering the bantams. The band of birds scatters in defense, but Jonas breaks through the barricade and grabs a baby chicken, tossing the bundle over his shoulder--exhibiting his trophy around the backyard like a tribute bestowed upon him for bravery.

The hole Owen's been digging by the old battered boat is unmistakably bigger than before. His brain is busy contemplating his make-believe obligation. Satisfied, he buries his feet beneath the brown dirt.

Any passing object could become the new beneficiary of the obsessive attention of three little boys. Birds, bees, butterflies and bunny rabbits each take a turn bisecting the yard, bringing momentary bedlam, which usually ends as abruptly as it began as the boys go back about their own business.

It’s abominable to head back indoors but as blue above begins to darken and slow blinks begin to linger longer—I know it’s time to beckon my little boys in for a quick bath before bedtime. The boisterous noises ebb as the boys break for the night. Owen lags behind, a little caboose, hesitant to leave his personal arboretum of bliss. “Don’t be sad,” I bolster his spirits, “The fun will be back again with daybreak.”

This typical summer afternoon was brought to you by the letter “B”. Read More.

Bugging our Bees -- Hive Inspections

2011-06-07T12:11:00.001-05:00

It's been five weeks since we became backyard beekeepers. What I love most is the opportunity that it has given us to learn so much about something we really didn't know about before. I've read four books on beekeeping from our library already to learn about what we're doing. We rented a Nova Program "Tales from the Hive" and watched that with the boys. They loved getting to see the bees up close like that since we don't let them go near our actual hive. Jeremy and I, on the other hand, will go out every day and stand behind the bee hive and peer over the top, watching the bees come and go.

It's fascinating to watch them work. The bees carrying pollen fly so clumsily. They clunk down with a hard landing and waddle in to deposit their wares. You can't see the nectar that the other foragers carry--but I trust them. The guard bees stand out in front feeling everybody that comes to the entrance making sure they belong.

Lately we've noticed some bees that stand out front, face towards the entrance, stick their rear ends up in the air and just beat their wings continuously. They are creating an airflow away from the hive fanning out the entrance.

Our bees reached the end of their "new bee" phase so we had a number of things we needed to go do with the hive this weekend. We came out to the hive to see two large masses of bees hanging on the outside of the box. Jeremy called to me and asked me if they were swarming (the great fear of beekeepers everywhere) but they were just hot. When they can't keep the temperature down inside the hive, some of the bees have to go hang out outside. The right temperature range inside the hive is important for the developing "brood" --the baby bees.

But that did tell us that we definitely needed to do the two tasks we had on the agenda: remove the entrance reducer and add a second hive body. We had an entrance reducer in because that's supposed to help the bees defend their new hive a little better while their numbers are still low. We waited to add a second box to encourage the bees to draw comb, essentially form the new honeycomb, on all the bottom frames before moving up into another box. The bees have a tendency to stay to the middle and move upwards when the chance is available. However, if you wait too long to add another box on top the bees feel crowded and start thinking about swarming off.

So Jeremy got into the hive and started checking on things. At Jeremy's first visit, two weeks after installing the bees, he was still learning the ropes, working on the techniques of everything he was supposed to be doing. So he didn't come out of it with a very good idea of the state of the brood-rearing (which is kind of the most-important point of the initial hive inspection).

This time we were able to get a good look at the bees in all stages of development. The queen lays eggs which hatch into little larvae, which grow bigger, then they make a cocoon become "pupae" and the worker bees cap their cell with wax. When they are finished developing into bees they chew their way out of the cells. We were able to see all stages of development going on. Including watching a little bee chew out of it's cell! We also saw some drone cells as well. The male drones have larger bodies, so instead of having a flat cap over their cell, they have a more bulbous cap.

We've not actually seen the queen yet, but the fruits of her labor are self-evident of her presence. We'll get better at spotting her. We got the second hive body box on--so it's looking even more like a "real" beehive now. We're starting to almost feel like legitimate beekeepers.

I hang out and watch Jeremy work and have him show me things. I shout out orders and directions from all the books and blogs I've read like a good wife does. I need my own veil so I can be more involved--thought I don't think I'll get a suit. The bees are most defensive of the fan-shaped area extending out from their entrance. I always stay away from that front area. That's good enough to have the bees let you alone most of the time (although when you crack open the hive you are totally in their defensive zone).

There is another interesting fact about where we placed the hive. We faced it towards that tall fence. It's about 10 feet from it. Doing so encourages the bees when they fly out of the hive to then fly up over the fence. This encourages the bees to fly off at a level above people and animals. That is an important trick for suburban beekeepers like us to be aware of. It's no guarantee but it's worth a shot.

There was a small amount of burr comb between two of the frames. It sticks the frames together so you can't remove and inspect them so Jeremy scraped it off. (That made the bees mad.). He brought the comb inside dripping with sweet nectar and let everyone have a taste. The boys were so excited to get their first taste of "honey" from our bees.

We hope there'll be more where that came from!

Walk and Talk

2011-06-06T13:23:00.003-05:00

My first semester at college overlapped with my sister's last semester. I lived in apartment dormitories and she lived off campus but that didn't stop us from spending hours together every day. Sometimes we'd pick up a mini-loaf of bread with honey butter for a mid-morning snack. Sometimes we'd head to my apartment for lunch or so Evelyn could take a nap in my bed. And sometimes we'd just say "Hi" before heading to our next class.

On a campus of 30,000 students it could have been a hard thing to try and find each other everyday--but it wasn't. Not for us.

I had started college in January after Christmas break, but in anticipation of the semester our brother gave us walkie talkies for a Christmas present. Every day after our morning classes we'd switch on our walkie talkies for an update: where are you, where are you headed, what do you need to do this morning? And then we'd align our paths to intersect. We'd keep up the casual exchange until we finally made it face to face and would switch off the walkie talkies.

We were the model of efficiency. We never had to wonder why the other wasn't at a pre-arranged meeting spot, or question whether we had remembered the time or place incorrectly.

We got the whole range of looks while conversing on our Walkie Talkies. Some people were confused. Some would laugh and point (in the good way. . . I think). Some were probably annoyed in some kind of teenage angst-y way. But it was a great system, and we were just the smart ones that thought of it first.

Early Summer Seasonal Recipes

2011-06-03T08:05:00.002-05:00

My sister called recently to announce that she's received a bunch of fresh rhubarb from a friend's backyard. She'd already made a strawberry rhubarb pie and was looking for more ideas for the remainder of her rhubarb.

I immediately thought of the rhubarb soda recipe we found last year.

Rhubarb, sugar and water.

Simmered until the water turns bright pink--then strained.

Added "to taste" to cold fizzy water.

Guzzled by boys and parents alike.

These pictures are from trying it last year--but once I had it in my mind I couldn't forget it--so we had to make up a fresh batch this spring. Eating in season makes it exciting to remember old favorites each year as the season rolls around again.

(Recently I've gotten interested in water kefir for its potential for making homemade sodas like this. Anyone have experience with or thoughts about water kefir?)

The recipe for the homemade rhubarb soda and my sister's strawberry-rhubarb pie are in the following "In the Season Thereof" May newsletter, along with some other great late spring and early summer recipes. Enjoy!

Season Thereof 0511

Cloth Diapering Made Easy -- Sewing Tutorial

2011-06-01T12:49:00.003-05:00

When Wyatt was born one of Jeremy's professors lent us a large stash of newborn-sized cloth diapers. (Jeremy's profession is pretty "green" in general.) We've done cloth diapering on and off with each of our boys, but enjoyed trying out some of the "fancier" products we'd never spent the money on.

The all-in-one cloth diapers are the easiest cloth diapers. They have a waterproof outer cover and thick inner lining, and you either velcro or snap the diaper on the baby just like a paper diaper. When it's wet you throw it in the wash pail, and 2-3 times a week you do laundry.

The drawbacks to the all-in-one diaper are that the laminated waterproof cover breaks down fairly quickly because you wash it every single time it is worn, and the diapers take a really long time to dry because they are so thick. A pocket-style cloth diaper has an opening at the back where you slide in the large soaker pad, but then pull it out for laundering. This way the thickness is in two pieces and the diapers dry faster, but still the diapers must be washed every time.

The favorite product that we tried from this stash of newborn diapers was the Thirsties wrap. It's a waterproof cover with no inner lining. You put a cloth diaper on the baby and then put the waterproof cover on over it. The cloth diaper gets wet but the cover stays dry so you can reuse the cover over and over until wash day. (I also think the wrap seems a bit smelly after a messy diaper, so I usually retire it until wash day then as well.)

The cloth diapers we borrowed were really nice, but I already had a stash of converted prefold cloth diapers that I made when Owen was a year old. So we bought some Thirsties covers to use with those. It's a lot easier than the plastic pants we used with Owen and Jonas. Pulling the plastic pants on and off can be a pain especially when there's a messy diaper involved. We are loving the diaper wrap covers, and the best part was--we only bought three and that is all we need.

When I was pregnant with Owen I researched a lot about cloth diapers. I wanted it to be inexpensive and easy. Who doesn't--right? An idea I came across that I really liked was converting a prefold to a contoured or fitted diaper. Adding elastic helped the fit, and adding hook and loop tape helped the user-friendliness. Gerber Prefolds are like $20 for 12 I believe.

Prefold into Fitted Diaper Tutorial

Supplies: Prefold cloth diapers, fold-over-elastic, hook and loop tape (Velcro), scissors, thread.

Lay out the cloth diaper and trace the pink shape on each side. Cut out on the pink line--set that piece aside, and then trim the diaper by cutting along the green lines. Discard the piece marked by the blue triangle. Use the piece outlined in green to extend the tabs at the top of the diaper and make them longer. The pink pieces cut from the sides can be unfolded to create an oval shape. Lay 4-6 of these on top of each other and serge or zigzag the edges together to make "doublers" for nap time or bedtime or bigger kids.

Fold the elastic over the raw edge of the diaper to bind the edges. Pull to stretch out the elastic as you sew along the back waist area and the two long sides that will stretch around the thighs. (If you can't find fold-over-elastic you can surge the edges or bind them with something else but you will want to sew some 1/4 inch elastic at the back waistband and along the legs first. Sew it in between the layers of the diaper so it's not against the skin.)

Sew on hook and loop tape. The placement of loop tape makes this diaper fit a number of sizes baby through toddler age. Sewing a loop tape to the inside of the tabs allows you to secure the hook tape when washing so it doesn't stick to all the laundry.

Fold the top inside and overlap the tabs for infants. Fold the top inside and use the large front hook tape for a bigger baby (that's the stage Wyatt is at right now.) For toddlers leave the front up and use the hook tape in the upper corners.

We used to use these plastic pants, and they are still an acceptable option. I love the wrap style of our new covers--it makes it really convenient. Some people also like wool covers so they can avoid using plastics. Any of those covers will work with these fitted cloth diapers.

Bacon Brownies

2011-05-31T08:04:00.002-05:00

Jeremy is on a roll with his brownie-making skills. We had another church picnic Monday, like we do every Memorial day and Labor day.

As promised in the comments of his key lime brownie recipe this time Jeremy made a slightly less universally appreciated brownie. Don't be confused by the striking resemblance to mini German chocolate cake brownies-- these are Bacon Brownies topped with Onion Confit.

He actually won a ribbon this time as well. It was the 2nd place ribbon, (There were only two entries in the brownie category--Shhhh! Don't tell him I told you!) and we're all very proud of Jeremy.

I decided not to enter the dessert contest this time. Since I went all out on the Dali Steampunk Cake I decided to sit out this time and let the other girls have a chance to exhibit (=snort!=). That and I was in charge of drinks for everybody, so I was busy with that.

But since I can't help myself in regards to Jell-o for festive occasions, I did make a side dish (ok really a dessert) molded red white and blue Jello.

And although it is not real food--I have to say I am beginning to understand why a beautiful molded gelatin "salad" was a trophy piece on the table of the 50's homemaker. There really are some tricks to having success with it. So although most of the time I set my culinary sights a bit higher--I do enjoy dabbling in the field of molded desserts.

Considering His Education

2011-05-27T21:12:00.001-05:00

We recently reached the end of the school year and I am no closer to deciding what Owen's schooling will look like next year-- most importantly whether it will take place at school or at home.

I went ahead and filled out the paperwork to pre-register for next year in public school. I also filled out an optional form expressing my concerns for consideration in Owen's potential classroom placement next year. (It's not a teacher request form--so don't be confused!) Everything I wrote on the form was straight from Owen's IEP (Individualized Education Plan) but also aligned with the description of the classroom of the teacher I would choose--if I could.

Jeremy supported me in filling out the paperwork. As he said: "keeping all the doors open until we choose to close them."

In reality I am in complete inner turmoil over this all. We decided to put the decision off until the school year ended. And now it's here and Jeremy and I have to move past the theoretical discussion of home-based education versus public school (which we have actually enjoyed) and move into the realm of discussing our own life and children and the realities of our situation.

Jeremy is also keen on the idea of "trying out" homeschooling this summer. And so it was with the sound of school bells still echoing in our ears that we had our first homeschool lesson of the summer. Owen, who is now reading very well, pointed at a website side banner saying "bu..., bu..., What does that word spell?"

"That's a hard one" I explained, "It's 'buy.' And actually there are three different ways to spell it." So I grabbed a scrap paper in front of me and diagrammed the three spellings of [bahy] along with illustrations to show what they mean.

Owen said, "OK thanks." and ran off.

And that's pretty much how I see homeschool happening around here. Teaching in the moment, facilitating more moments, and spending lots of time as a family and with his brothers. Easy.

Except that it's not always easy, and there are things he'll miss not being in public school. There are pros and cons to both models of education, and to not acknowledge that is unfair to our children. But in the end a decision has to be made.

But, thankfully today is not "the end," and so today the decision waits.

Building Community

2011-05-25T11:50:00.001-05:00

Every year we've planted a garden we've tried to start our own plants from seeds, and every year that process has been an almost complete flop.

Since our germination experiments have all failed, we bought a lot of plant starts this year from a local market. It's not the most inexpensive place to buy plants in town, but we felt good about supporting a local business, and I realized that by going to this market we were supporting the local business model twofold, because many of the starts they sell are grown right here in Kansas.

As I was planting I contemplated, the idea of independence versus interdependence. One reason why we garden is for a greater sense of independence. A feeling that we don't have to be dependent for our basic needs on large corporations with centers of production far far away from us. There's lots situations where this food distribution model could be a problem. Bad weather, social/political unrest, or fuel prices and availability could all interfere with our ability to receive basic commodities from far away sources. So, we should just provide it all ourselves--right?

Working in my small garden I thought about how at least right now (while the greenhouse of my dreams exists only in my dreams) I'm really just not set up to grow plants from seeds, so I am happy that someone else who is better equipped to do so can provide that for me. I've realized many times along our path to greater self-reliance that it will be impossible for us to ever provide absolutely everything for ourselves, and complete isolation is not what we want, either.

As we work to provide for many of our own needs we are working to get away from a dependance on large businesses and nonsensical models of commodities distribution. What we would like to participate in is an interdependent relationship with smaller, local businesses. We need them to provide us with things that we are unable to--yet they also need us and so we are treated with respect and even friendship. As I worked in the garden I thought that "interdependence" still seemed like too institutional a word for the relationship I was imagining.

A better word is community. People working together for a joint cause--the cause being the health of the community, or the community's members. People working hard to provide the things they can, getting help where their abilities fall short, and always supporting those around them. In a small way, I hope that buying Kansas seedlings from the local market when my own growing attempts have failed, will help to build that community.

Free Range Nursing

2011-05-23T11:14:00.001-05:00

My youngest brother was born when I was five. I have just one memory of my mother nursing him. It was when two ladies from the church were over visiting. My mother was sitting on the couch and had a blanket draped across herself and my nursing little brother. This memory stands out because I was curious and confused about why my mom had a blanket over herself. I'm guessing that means that wasn't her regular practice around the home.

Owen was five when Wyatt was born. I've never tried to cover up while nursing around the house. I didn't see the point--nursing is an activity of mine and the baby's and it's simply a part of our family's lifestyle. When Owen was a baby, I would bring a bottle of expressed milk to church for him, because "people" said that would be more convenient than nursing away from home.

It's six years later, and by now I've realized that nursing is the ultimate convenience. It's a lot easier to nurse in public than gather all the supplies and go through all the steps of preparing to bottle-feed when outside the home. Along with that it is easy to sit right where I am to nurse rather than go to a special nursing room (though sometimes I do--like when I want a nap). And speaking of sleep--it's so easy to nurse a baby while sleeping at night. And for all of this I do no extra work, and give it no additional worry. I eat food when I'm hungry, drink water because it's healthy, and my body does all the rest. I get a greater satisfaction from nursing my babies than any other mothering task I've participated in--knowing that it's doing only good, no harm.

Breastfeeding is normal. We are mammals after all. My children see it and know it's normal. My husband supports me--he knows it's normal. It is normal; it is good. So I nurse my babies without apology, and most of the time--without a cover.

Me and Wyatt at a campus event on Wyatt's birthday.

Mothering Boys

2011-05-18T21:58:00.001-05:00

Motherhood is full of great joys,
'Specially with my three young boys.
They jump in the air,
Off my couch and my chair.
I wonder why we even buy toys.

(What? It's a limerick--see more motherhood limericks here.)

I really try hard to embrace being the mother of three boys. We hope for additional child(ren), and I would love for a little girl to come along, but the fact remains that my first three are boys. Thus I've spent a lot of time pondering what that will mean about the way our days will play out as a family.

Immediately after finding out that we were having our second boy I signed up for the ladies' craft day at church to make a set of campfire roasting sticks. Because camping will be something we can do as a family with boys, right? I might as well be prepared.

I don't believe in strict gender stereotyping (my boys have plenty of dolls and a play kitchen as well) but I do have a little bit of nostalgia for the little boys of yesteryear. Running around outside, playing in a creek, catching tadpoles, and sailing stick-boats down the current.

I almost cried the first time I had to put a band-aid on Owen's little knee. (Tears of joy for what a good little boy he was being.)

For Christmas last year we almost didn't give gifts from Santa (that is a topic for another day) but we realized Jeremy's sister, whom we were visiting, lived right by an IKEA. On Christmas Eve we were at IKEA picking up a gift that Jeremy and I had wanted to give Jonas, and we came across their indoor rope toys. I had fallen in love with the idea of doorway swings while overseas, and I knew that with my brood of boys--and the perfect crossbeam in our house separating the "old" house from the "new" house--that my boys' Christmas morning just got a little more interesting.

So they got a rope swing--which they love.

And the family gets a kick out of watching them.

And they got a rope ladder, which Jonas loves, and Owen can sometimes be persuaded to play on if it's "Jonas' turn" on the swing.

But a lot of the time Jonas is content to use the bottom rung of the ladder as a swing as well.

And I am content watching my boys "be boys" in only the best ways, while I make dinner to the side. But I get just a little worried when Wyatt let's me know that he's getting nimble enough to play with his brothers as well.

Utensil Wall Art

2011-05-17T21:55:00.001-05:00

I've had a silverware wall art idea on the back burner for quite a while. I finally completed the finishing touches this afternoon.

The first time I wanted to do the project was when I saw these large utensils made out of silverware:

I saw these back in November and headed out to the thrift store right away to buy a supply of old silverware. But once I got it all home along with large canvases from the craft store I realized these are really big. As in my hall/dining room isn't big enough for these suckers. So I sat on the idea for a while waiting for inspiration to strike.

And it did strike-- I saw the idea of spray painting the silverware along with some frames white, and mounting them on fabric.

The final product is still pretty modern with the white, but with a hint of sophistication that the first project was lacking.

The silverware artwork fits well on the wall above our dining table, and helps to define this part of the space in the strange center of the house room that you have to walk through to get from any single room in our house to another.

After completing the project and taking pictures outside (the very first picture) I realized that I had oriented the silverware differently than I had meant to. Jeremy's vote (he is a designer after all) was to do it this way so I tore off the spoons and forks and re-hot-glued-them, but I still kind of like that top picture where all three frames are oriented up and down.

What do you think?

I'm sharing this post here: