Moonpie celebrates- part 1

This year, instead of a big party, Moonpie opted to have a birthday lunch with a handful of friends.  We have learned from past parties that she overwhelms easily in a large group.  Oh how I understand this.

Ages ago I saw a post on Oh Happy Day! about some invitations that she had created for a bookworm themed birthday party.  I tucked that idea in the back of my head, hoping that one day one of my children would like the idea of a bookworm themed party.  When I mentioned this idea to Moonpie, she loved it!

This left lots of room for activities we could do.  I dusted off my elementary school teacher brain and set to work on some games!

They all attempted to make bleached letter t-shirts (inspired by Ashley Anne).  I say attempted because I used natural bleach.  You know, the kind with no chlorine in it.  Mmm-hmm.  Genius!  When we pulled the shirts out of the drier a friend said "hey, what happened to my letter?"  Good question!

We hunted for eggs in the backyard with words inside of them.  After all were found the kids pieced the words together to form sentences.  Some of the sentences were scripture and some were quotes from children's books.

We played sight word bingo, using gummy worms for markers.  They appeased me by sitting through one game.  Then they couldn't resist the urge to eat their gummy worms!

We then, of course, played pin the worm on the book.  This was Moonpie's idea and she created the whole activity herself.

My favorite part of the day was when we sat down to eat lunch (alphabet soup, of course!).  I started a discussion about favorite books.  I loved hearing them talk about the books they treasure most.  One child stated that she just couldn't think of her favorite book because there are so many good ones.

I couldn't agree more.

this moment

{{{as inspired by soulemama- one single, wordless moment that is worth hanging onto}}}

helping

they say it's your birthday

Well I tell them to just hush.  That it can't be seven years already.

But then I see you, making eggs for our breakfast, reading the card I made for you, trying to navigate the emotions that come with growing, and I know-

-I know-

that it is so.

You are seven.  You are tall

and strong

and compassionate

and funny

and creative

and smart.

Oh so smart.  I can't get over you.

Today as we heap presents upon you, know that it is a meager attempt to show you what a gift you are to us.

It is my joy to share this journey of growth with you.  Since the day you were born, we have been discovering this world together.  I am blessed to have a fellow sojourner such as you.

Happy birthday my girl.

simple kitchen

sweet potato fries

There is a restaurant in Houston that makes the BEST sweet potato fries.  I pretend like they are good for me, and I eat every last one (besides the ones stolen off of my plate).  They are delicious.  When we have our yummy grass fed burgers here at home, I like to make a version of the sweet potato fries.

First I peel and chop the potatoes.  I like them kind of thick, but not too thick.  If they are too thick they take too long to cook.

I place them on a lightly oiled sheet (either coconut or olive), and then sprinkle some oil on top.  Very little oil.  Then I place them under the broiler until they crisp up a bit.

My husband would want me to stop right here and tell you that they don't get nearly as crispy as truly fried potatoes would.  But it doesn't really bother me.  These are delicious!

To sweet potatoes!  God's crowning achievement in the root vegetable category!

m'lords and m'ladies

Last weekend we ran up to Dallas to spend time with John's sister and her partner.  We had a great time in the big city!  They live in the Oak Cliff area (home to the delightful Edie Brickell), so we were really central to a lot of things.  We ate at a little local pizza place (where they used local ingredients!) and I visited the fabric store of my dreams!  "Visited" doesn't exactly convey how much time I spent in there.  Gracious.  It was glorious.

Moving on.

For Christmas, said sisters-in-law gave us tickets to Medieval Times!  We had so much fun!  Who couldn't while (a) eating dinner with your hands (b) smelling horse poop while eating dinner (c) wearing paper crowns (d) cheering on valiant knights (who may or may not work a second job at the local gaming shop).  We laughed so much that night!

On with the pictures:

Aunt Sara and Aunt Traci

My valiant knight, Sir Buddy.

Just the five of us, enjoying a night on the town.

Daddy.  Isn't this the perfect picture summing up what a daddy does?

Princess Moonpie

Enjoying deliciousness.  This picture makes me laugh so hard!

Can you tell they're related?

clothes line

We moved into this house four years ago.  Four years ago!  In that time we have done so much around here- rewired the whole house, new plumbing, put in CHA, new roof, built walls, rebuilt the floor, finished the floor, repainted the interior (several times- ahem), painted the exterior, put in garden boxes, put in some grass, built a shed, built a bathroom, rehabbed a bathroom, and 800 other things that I can't exactly recall right now.  One of the things on my list of homesteading needs was a clothes line.  What respectable homesteader doesn't have a clothes line?

I'll tell you who-

 me.

I was that person draping diapers over the porch railing, pinning sheets to the trampoline, tying up ropes in the back yard making make shift spider web lines all over the place.  Call me Anasazi.  But with all of the other real needs, the clothes line kept being put on the back burner.

For my birthday this year, John gave me a clothes pin bag and a set of 100 clothes pins.  I looked at him and without missing a beat said "where is it?".  He had built it the week before and hidden it behind our shed.  After he showed me the poles that morning, he went ahead and set it all up.

Can I say, that I adore this clothes line?  Is that too strong a word?  Well, I do.  I just adore it.  I love that he didn't make it look like every other clothes line.  He made it just for me.  The poles look like telephone poles, he strung the wires to look line phone wires and carefully wrapped them around the porcelain electrical thingies (the technical term) he found in our attic.

And then, there are the love birds.    After he had set them into the concrete he showed me how he placed the love birds facing the west- so they could watch the sun set together.

swoon.

I love this man of mine.

oh mr. sun

Oh my stars! 

 Look what we found when we went out to check on the hens last night!

Looks like we're not the only ones enjoying the extra day light!

photo credits:  Buddy and Moonpie

adoptive breast feeding

As the time for our adoption training comes closer, I am beginning to think more of this little one that will soon come into our lives.  It is hard to keep my crafting hands still when I know a baby is on the brink.  But this situation is so different.  Not only is the sex a mystery, but so is the time frame, and the age.  Going on the information that our agency typically places infants for adoption, I have begun some infant knitting.  It feels so good to have a tangible presence of this baby.  S/he is not growing inside of me, but I can begin our bonding by thinking and praying over this child, stitch by stitch.

Something that is always on my mind is how to nourish this child.  I am a breast feeder, through and through.  I was so delighted to learn that I can breast feed my adopted child!  It is going to take much more work, but it is do-able- and I am up for the challenge!  I came across this article today on the blog Blacktating.  It is not an informative article, but I love anything that discusses adoptive breast feeding in such a positive, public way.  Check it out if you get the moment!

simple kitchen: breakfast

 banana pancakes

While mine are cooking, I like to add chopped walnuts.  Yum!!!

We love banana pancakes around here!  I think you will too.  This 'recipe' is so seriously simple that I don't even measure anything.  I just throw it all in a bowl and call it good.  For this post's purpose I will try to come up with some measurements, but keep in mind that they are all round about.  If you find that you need more flour, add more.  Add another banana.  Shoot- leave the bananas out and add applesauce!  This is a versatile breakfast staple!

The How:

Put about 2 Cups of flour in the bowl (I usually use white whole wheat flour here)

Add 1/2 tsp of baking powder

sprinkle in some cinnamon

Whisk together

Put in one ripe banana and mash

Add 2 Tbsp of melted coconut oil

a splash of vanilla

Now for the liquid- I tend to add milk until it's a nice, runny 'pancake batter' consistency.  I add a little at first and just slowly keep adding.

Stir it up

Spoon out onto a hot griddle

Done and done!

Please let me know if you try this!  Also- if anything is too vague ask away and I'll try my best to answer.

still life

this moment

{{{as inspired by soulemama- one single, wordless moment that is worth hanging onto}}}

happy weekend!!!

simple kitchen

Here is a simple and fun lunch that my family loves!

I hope yours does too.

Green Chips


If your family is like mine and enjoys eating locally and in season, you are swimming in an abundance of greens right now.  Something we like to eat is "green chips".  Spread a small amount of olive oil on a pan, chop up greens (we used collard here but my favorite is kale) and spread on a pan.  Try not to overlap.  Sprinkle some raw cheese on top and a dash of salt.  Set the oven on the broiler and let the greens broil until they have some browning on some of the edges.  When you pull them out and they begin to cool they turn crunchy.  They are delicious!  Really- my children jumped up and down when I pulled these out of the oven.  They are great on their own or can be used as a topping for pretty much anything.

Whole Food Nachos
wherein I attempt to make nachos sound healthy...


On Sundays I like to make a big pot of beans that will last us for 3 or 4 meals during the week.  I make them in the crock-pot - so easy!

This week we had black bean nachos and the family was raving!  I mean, this was really easy.  If only they were as enthusiastic about the butternut squash and kale lasagna I make.  Now THAT takes effort.  I digress.

Our local supermarket (HEB) carries an organic corn chip with red quinoa and flax in it.  That is the base layer here.  Then I spooned on some beans, grated up raw carrot over them, added raw cheddar cheese and placed under the broiler.  When I pulled them out I added the green chips.  Then we put a spoonful of plain yogurt on top (you know- for a sour cream effect).

It was such a flavorful and filling lunch.  Go try it!

christmas traditions

Traditions are big on my list of "things I want to accomplish as a parent".  I think some of comes out of my being from a broken family as a child.  When you are living between two homes, traditions are difficult to maintain.
I have loved creating traditions for our family!  Sometimes they have been hard to stand by, but just like daily rhythms, yearly rhythms are important and worthwhile.  Here are some of the things we enjoy doing.

Operation Christmas Child

We have enjoyed supporting this ministry every year since Moonpie was very young.  Our children choose to buy for either a boy or a girl, and the age range.  They generally choose a child of their same sex and age.  We buy small gifts and necessities that will fit in the shoe boxes.  They get to choose the gifts that go in their box.  This is such a tangible way to teach giving to someone else that lives somewhere far, far away.  When we pack the boxes we like to talk about where our boxes are going (the globe comes in handy here!) and what we think the recipients will like best.  We for sure thought the favorite this year would be the Groucho Marx glasses!

Advent
I have loved observing Advent with my family.  The celebration of the coming of Emmanuel.  Advent has been so very special to us over the years.  It has really helped to settle our holiday restlessness.  It has almost been like a slow, deep breath.
John typically comes up with the scripture we study each Sunday evening over a feast and lit candles.  Throughout the week we do a Jesse Tree during our school time.  (We have found a beautiful one on A Holy Experience.)

Handmade gifts
made this year:

• embroidered pillow cases (from Alicia and Geninne)

• spicy chocolate bark (inspired by Maya Made)- our changes- organic dried cherries, no pepitas, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp cinnamon.  OH MY!!!
• oat bath (inspired by Maya Made)- our changes- added lavender to some, added calendula to some

• sailboats for buddy (carved by daddy, sails by me)
• wool felt puppets for the nephews
• daddy made oak puppet stands for the nephews
• lip balm

• daddy made bird house from reclaimed lumber

here you can see the unfinished sail boats and puppet stands as well

• pajamas
• crispy nuts
• sibling gifts

Reusable gift wrapping

Every year I have fun trying to come up with some kind of renewable gift wrap option.  This year I had lots of fun with thrifted and antiqued tins.  They were perfect the consumable gifts we gave (coffee, chocolate bark, crispy nuts, lip balm, soap, oat bath) and very easy to come by.

Christmas festivities

We are so fortunate to have a very large family that lives near enough for us to see every Christmas.  Because we have four sets of grandparents, our kids get FIVE Christmases!  We always like to begin the celebrating here at home before we travel down to Houston to see everyone.

We decided this year to celebrate our own Christmas on Dec. 22.  That set our "Christmas Eve" on Dec. 21- winter solstice!  We went out that afternoon to celebrate my birthday (which falls on the real Christmas Eve) and then spent that evening making chocolate bark, roasting up marshmallows and opening Christmas jammies.  The next morning we woke up and had our Christmas.  On the 23rd we headed down to Houston and moved from home to home until the 25th when we came back to our home!  We always spend Christmas Eve night with my dad and step-mom.  We go to the service at their church and then spend that night with them.  This is the one tradition from our childhood that we have observed consistently.  I am so glad we have stuck with it!  People always ask me if it's lame to have a birthday on Christmas Eve.  I have to admit that I love getting to be with my family on my birthday- so if that means not really getting to celebrate the day of, then I'll take it.

(Here are 2 out of the 4 houses represented in pictures. The other 2 homes are somewhere on John's computer!)

Aunt Sara and Moonpie

Hanging out with cousin Jack

My sister and our grandmother

Front row: brother, sister in law (my nephew in her lap), Buddy, my sister (with Moonpie in her lap)
Second row:  me, John, my dad and step-mom

Another thing we like doing the week before Christmas is visiting our nursing home.  With my bout with bronchitis this year, we didn't make it.

Well- that is a little peek into what we do around here for Christmas.  It makes me a little tired looking at it all at once!

I have so enjoyed getting to see how all of you spent your holiday as well!