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DAILY FARM LIFE / MOTHERHOOD
Emma and I watched some college gymnastics on Saturday which inspired a whole weekend of flips and routines. Emma doesn’t miss a detail when she watches these things, hence the paper number on her back, the hair pulled back in a bun, the focused, dramatic pause before each routine, the arms-raised bow after each dismount. She even got out baby powder and chalked up her hands. Dan threw together a make-shift "bouncing beam" at the house to complete the shows I’ve been watching all weekend.
I finally remembered to take my camera over to the house to show some floor progress. It was pretty crappy weather all weekend, so they’re not the best shots. But the fact that there is now a floor where there was only logs before? That’s progress. We put a few pieces of furniture around in the living room for fun. And all of a sudden our things are looking very colonial. But I like it.
So my mother’s day was another work day for us. (or for poor Dan. I was on kid-duty.) It was a bit of a disappointing day, but I think that maybe I was just having a pity-party for myself. As I was sitting in the chair putting Elizabeth down for a nap yesterday I was reminded what a gift it is to be a mother. To feel so full and satisfied. To love it so much. To wake up to something new every single day. It is really a privilege. And that is what is most important to me. My three girls are really the best gift, as cheesy as that might sound.
And before I forget…books! My good friend the random number generator picked out Sam and Ali for the two Shackleton books. Sam, I’m sending you Trapped by the Ice, and Ali, I’ll send you Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. So send me an email with your address and I’ll wrap them up and put them in the mail.
I hope you all have a lovely Monday. It’s rainy, cold and WINDY here! Yuck. But I think we might make the trek to the hardware store for a mailbox for the new house, despite the weather. My sunflower seeds are coming to the new house, and there’s no mailbox to deliver them to. Yay for house progress!
Emma and I watched some college gymnastics on Saturday which inspired a whole weekend of flips and routines. Emma doesn’t miss a detail when she watches these things, hence the paper number on her back, the hair pulled back in a bun, the focused, dramatic pause before each routine, the arms-raised bow after each dismount. She even got out baby powder and chalked up her hands. Dan threw together a make-shift "bouncing beam" at the house to complete the shows I’ve been watching all weekend.
I finally remembered to take my camera over to the house to show some floor progress. It was pretty crappy weather all weekend, so they’re not the best shots. But the fact that there is now a floor where there was only logs before? That’s progress. We put a few pieces of furniture around in the living room for fun. And all of a sudden our things are looking very colonial. But I like it.
So my mother’s day was another work day for us. (or for poor Dan. I was on kid-duty.) It was a bit of a disappointing day, but I think that maybe I was just having a pity-party for myself. As I was sitting in the chair putting Elizabeth down for a nap yesterday I was reminded what a gift it is to be a mother. To feel so full and satisfied. To love it so much. To wake up to something new every single day. It is really a privilege. And that is what is most important to me. My three girls are really the best gift, as cheesy as that might sound.
And before I forget…books! My good friend the random number generator picked out Sam and Ali for the two Shackleton books. Sam, I’m sending you Trapped by the Ice, and Ali, I’ll send you Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. So send me an email with your address and I’ll wrap them up and put them in the mail.
I hope you all have a lovely Monday. It’s rainy, cold and WINDY here! Yuck. But I think we might make the trek to the hardware store for a mailbox for the new house, despite the weather. My sunflower seeds are coming to the new house, and there’s no mailbox to deliver them to. Yay for house progress!
IN MY KITCHEN
Thank you for all the book suggestions, folks! I just sat down and created a huge checkout list from my library. My local library can be accessed online. I can reserve books and have them "sent" to a drive-thru window where I pick them up and checkout. It’s pretty much what keeps my reading life alive b/c any time spent at the library is usually spent downstairs in the children’s department. Now if I could just find a grocery store with a drive thru window….
Strawberries aren’t quite in season here, but were are just on the cusp. So I’m getting ready because I’m pretty much a strawberry fanatic. My grandmother told me that you should only wash the serving of strawberries you are going to eat because they spoil more quickly after you’ve washed them. So armed with that wisdom, I now only wash a handful at a time. This ritual had me thinking how much I wish I had a tiny collander to wash my one serving of berries. So I emailed my genius potter friend, Melissa and described what I was looking for and offered a swap for her design and potting services.
She sent me this beauty in the mail last week and it is just perfect. Perfectly sized for a large handful of berries–enough this morning for my cereal, a few in my mouth right away and some extras for my berry-lovin’ babe, Elizabeth who was tugging on my leg and grunting for more. Melissa, I love it. And if you want one of your own, she says she’ll be making more later this month. So go favorite her etsy shop and keep watch. And Melissa, your swallow mobile is in the works…. 🙂 **edited to add: she’s making more next week!**
And on the topic of food, I made this snack for the girls today which is straight from the latest issue of EDF’s after school snack section. Oh.My.Man. as my children would say. It is so good–cinnamon swirl bread, toasted. Plain cream cheese. Apple slices. Oh geez. Try it.
Yesterday, I called my mom on the phone. The woman makes the best salads in the world. So as I was making out my grocery list this week, I called to ask what key ingredients I needed to make a mom-esque salad…She really doesn’t know exactly what makes them so good. They’re these clean out the refrigerator, never the same twice kinds of salads. But her guesses were the cheese–feta. The olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper. Those were the base of almost every salad. So today, I made one for lunch–using the same base and adding some leftover grilled salmon, and some black beans. It was really, really good and filled me up for the rest of the day. (It’s 4:30 right now.) Now if only I’d made some crackers to go with it.
I’m still doing my weekly meal planning and I’m not sure I’ll be able to turn back. It is so helpful. (Although this week, I was a few days behind on my big shop and had to leave a "Dear John" letter on the fridge for Dan about his breakfast that wouldn’t be there for him.) But unfortunately my grocery bill keeps creeping higher and higher. Gone are the days of the $79 shopping trip. These grocery prices are making me want to add an extra acre to my garden. I saw a gallon of organic milk for seven dollars!
Thank you for all the book suggestions, folks! I just sat down and created a huge checkout list from my library. My local library can be accessed online. I can reserve books and have them “sent” to a drive-thru window where I pick them up and checkout. It’s pretty much what keeps my reading life alive b/c any time spent at the library is usually spent downstairs in the children’s department. Now if I could just find a grocery store with a drive thru window….
Strawberries aren’t quite in season here, but were are just on the cusp. So I’m getting ready because I’m pretty much a strawberry fanatic. My grandmother told me that you should only wash the serving of strawberries you are going to eat because they spoil more quickly after you’ve washed them. So armed with that wisdom, I now only wash a handful at a time. This ritual had me thinking how much I wish I had a tiny collander to wash my one serving of berries. So I emailed my genius potter friend, Melissa and described what I was looking for and offered a swap for her design and potting services.
She sent me this beauty in the mail last week and it is just perfect. Perfectly sized for a large handful of berries–enough this morning for my cereal, a few in my mouth right away and some extras for my berry-lovin’ babe, Elizabeth who was tugging on my leg and grunting for more. Melissa, I love it. And if you want one of your own, she says she’ll be making more later this month. So go favorite her etsy shop and keep watch. And Melissa, your swallow mobile is in the works…. 🙂 **edited to add: she’s making more next week!**
And on the topic of food, I made this snack for the girls today which is straight from the latest issue of EDF’s after school snack section. Oh.My.Man. as my children would say. It is so good–cinnamon swirl bread, toasted. Plain cream cheese. Apple slices. Oh geez. Try it. You can also check out vegan recipes at https://plantbasednetwork.com/.
Yesterday, I called my mom on the phone. The woman makes the best salads in the world. So as I was making out my grocery list this week, I called to ask what key ingredients I needed to make a mom-esque salad…She really doesn’t know exactly what makes them so good. They’re these clean out the refrigerator, never the same twice kinds of salads. But her guesses were the cheese–feta. The olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper. Those were the base of almost every salad. So today, I made one for lunch–using the same base and adding some leftover grilled salmon, and some black beans. It was really, really good and filled me up for the rest of the day. (It’s 4:30 right now.) Now if only I’d made some crackers to go with it.
I’m still doing my weekly meal planning and I’m not sure I’ll be able to turn back. It is so helpful. (Although this week, I was a few days behind on my big shop and had to leave a “Dear John” letter on the fridge for Dan about his breakfast that wouldn’t be there for him.) But unfortunately my grocery bill keeps creeping higher and higher. Gone are the days of the $79 shopping trip. These grocery prices are making me want to add an extra acre to my garden. I saw a gallon of organic milk for seven dollars!
book reviews / brown paper packages / LIVING WELL
A good family friend, Sarah, has just started blogging in the last few months as she courageously (and with a lot of spunk and style) battles breast cancer. Yesterday, I was catching up on her blog and I read a post about how good it felt for her to do "normal" things. She was just starting to feel better after a recent treatment and was so excited to be able to vacuum and change sheets on the bed. Reading that post was the reminder I needed this week. Here I am dragging my feet and grumbling through my "normal" day’s activities but reading Sarah’s blog entry quickly brought everything into perspective for me. It was a much needed little kick in the pants, slap in the face. Thank you, Sarah.
************
When Dan and I moved from Wisconsin to the farm apartment, we only brought the necessities. We were putting our house on the market weeks before everything fell apart and we blindly thought we would be reunited with our stuff in just a matter of months after the house sold. Hahaha!!! So here we are, two years later and the reunion has just begun. (though not because we’ve sold the house!) But one of the things we didn’t intend on leaving behind were several large boxes of children’s books. It wasn’t until we started unpacking and saying, "Where are all the girls’ books???" that we realized we’d forgotten them. So this week, Dan has been bringing over a box or two in the evenings for the girls to dig through. Oh, it’s so much fun!
Since my pre-mommy days were spent as an elementary school teacher, I have quite the collection of books and I’m finding many multiple copies as I dig through boxes. So, as I come across them, I figure I’ll share some of those extra copies here with all of you. The two I found in the first box, ironically, are about the same topic–Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition whose goal was to cross the Antarctic continent on foot. If you don’t know this story, you must read a book on it. It is an amazing story of willpower and strength and courage and leadership and adventure. Dan and I have this book which you should definitely check out, if only for the amazing photography.
But moving on, I have two children’s books about this story to share today. The first is called, "Trapped in the Ice", which you can read about here. It is an easier read, soft cover picture book.
The second is called, "Shipwreck At The Bottom of The World". It is also a soft cover book, but definitely more in the young adult category or maybe a read aloud. Read about it here. It has some of the amazing photography that you’ll find in the book Dan and I have.
So if you’re interested in one of these books let me know in the comments. If there are more than one or two of you, I’ll just draw a name again.
Now do me a favor…I looking for a good book to read. What are you reading these days? Any suggestions?
A good family friend, Sarah, has just started blogging in the last few months as she courageously (and with a lot of spunk and style) battles breast cancer. Yesterday, I was catching up on her blog and I read a post about how good it felt for her to do "normal" things. She was just starting to feel better after a recent treatment and was so excited to be able to vacuum and change sheets on the bed. Reading that post was the reminder I needed this week. Here I am dragging my feet and grumbling through my "normal" day’s activities but reading Sarah’s blog entry quickly brought everything into perspective for me. It was a much needed little kick in the pants, slap in the face. Thank you, Sarah.
************
When Dan and I moved from Wisconsin to the farm apartment, we only brought the necessities. We were putting our house on the market weeks before everything fell apart and we blindly thought we would be reunited with our stuff in just a matter of months after the house sold. Hahaha!!! So here we are, two years later and the reunion has just begun. (though not because we’ve sold the house!) But one of the things we didn’t intend on leaving behind were several large boxes of children’s books. It wasn’t until we started unpacking and saying, "Where are all the girls’ books???" that we realized we’d forgotten them. So this week, Dan has been bringing over a box or two in the evenings for the girls to dig through. Oh, it’s so much fun!
Since my pre-mommy days were spent as an elementary school teacher, I have quite the collection of books and I’m finding many multiple copies as I dig through boxes. So, as I come across them, I figure I’ll share some of those extra copies here with all of you. The two I found in the first box, ironically, are about the same topic–Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition whose goal was to cross the Antarctic continent on foot. If you don’t know this story, you must read a book on it. It is an amazing story of willpower and strength and courage and leadership and adventure. Dan and I have this book which you should definitely check out, if only for the amazing photography.
But moving on, I have two children’s books about this story to share today. The first is called, "Trapped in the Ice", which you can read about here. It is an easier read, soft cover picture book.
The second is called, "Shipwreck At The Bottom of The World". It is also a soft cover book, but definitely more in the young adult category or maybe a read aloud. Read about it here. It has some of the amazing photography that you’ll find in the book Dan and I have.
So if you’re interested in one of these books let me know in the comments. If there are more than one or two of you, I’ll just draw a name again.
Now do me a favor…I looking for a good book to read. What are you reading these days? Any suggestions?
