Granola again?

Yes... granola again!! Today is Granola making day as we are almost out. We have granola most mornings in our home because it is healthy, I know what's in it, it's easy to make, and our house smells like a bakery while it's in the oven. I have adapted this recipe from the cookbook More With Less. So here's the recipe. We have it with milk sometimes or with yogurt and fruit or warm or as a snack. It's wonderful!

Preheat oven to 350
6c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 C. Wheat Germ
1/2 C. Dry Powder Milk
1/2 C. Chopped nuts
3/4 C. Shredded sweetened Coconut
3/4 C. Dried Fruit (cranberries, raisins, currents, whatever)
2/3 C. Oil
2/3 C. Honey
1 t. Vanilla


Put oats in 9 x 13 pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and add dry ingredients. Stir. Then add oil and vanilla. Stir. Then add honey and stir. Bake in 5 minute increments stirring after each for 15 minutes. Set out untouched until completely cool. Then break up and put in airtight container.

Not only is Easter the highest point of the Christian year in the celebration of our Savior's birth, but it has always been remembered as a day to spend with family as well. I have so many memories of riding horses and falling off, playing volleyball, or trying to be the lucky kid to find the golden egg my grandmother would meticulously hide during the egg hunt. My memories are filled with days like these and that is the benefit of having a large family and living near them all. They become your support group, your best friends, your children's best friends, your critiques and your advisers. Relationships forged with them are like no other. We look forward to the day when we can form these memories with our family in Vermont as well. It is hard not being near them now, but we know it is just a season of our lives.

We have finally decided to feed Hazel something other than breast milk. I wanted to feed her something sweet and creamy sort of like breast milk. So, I mashed up some banana until it looked like snot and said "ooooopen uuuup". She was not amused and as the spoon touched her tongue I saw a look of pure fear in her eyes. Why I ask myself am I feeding this person who cannot pick it up with her own hands, does not have teeth to chew it, spits it out and dislikes the experience all together? All of these things working against me and sabotaging my efforts. This stage is such a short amount of time that I am tempted altogether to skip it in anticipation of the day when she can pick up her own glob of food and stick in in her own mouth. Did God really intend for a baby to eat solid food at 6 months? I doubt it.

Love with Abandon

It's refreshing to take a trip and have it consist of people rather than places. This past weekend we visited old friends in Southern California. I miss them dearly and wish we still lived near them. Each of their lives are changing so much and they are all growing into great people and people we want to raise are children with. This weekend really caused me to think of how little I consciously make it appoint to love people. Yet as Christians this should be our goal. To love others self-sacrificially. How much I want to be this person and desire that to be my goal with people. Instead so many times I find myself focusing on myself and my family alone. So many others in our family and friends have loved us in this way and I want to return this love. I am thankful to each of our friends! They are wonderful people who have enriched our lives beyond our expectations. We love you and we miss you!

This morning Elizah pulled at my leg "the pieces, the pieces" wanting to read The Missing Piece. This is by far one of our most ritualistic activities. In fact I think Elizah would have me do nothing else but read to her all day long if I agreed to it. I have begun to think about what sort of schooling we will provide for Elizah. I am in great conflict over this and have no idea what we will choose. I know that here I don't want to put her in public school because of the poor education she will receive and the private schools seem for the elite and I would love to home school, but I don't want to unschool. I want to give her my time and attention. Can I really do that with other babies in the house? There are so many people with strong convictions in this area and I really have none. I was sent this link and thought it was an interesting perspective. In fact this got me thinking about what we will do because the time will pass so quickly and before we know it she will be ready for her first day of kindergarten.

Spring is here

The air is fresh, the flowers are in bloom, and the birds sing their song. Everything is alive again! Yesterday I planted flowers all day and laid in the grass with the girls. They seem more cheerful now again as they are able to play outside. Elizah asked if she could join me for tea and I quickly obliged although she didn't drink any of it. A cup of tea in the afternoon is like the calm in the storm of songs, activities, snacks, cleaning, calming, playing, rocking and teaching. A must every day.

Our Daily Bread

Having young children is a great time to start good habits that will hopefully carry on to them. Most of the time though my intentions are good but I fail to carry through with them. Like, I have been trying to wake up at 5:00 every morning to have some quiet time before the house wakes up, but I have yet to crawl out of bed at that wee hour. However, one way I have been intentional is how I nourish my family. Not only spiritually but physically. I want to know what is in the food I'm eating and where it came from. Bread is so expensive to buy and so cheap to make! So, for about a year now I have been making all the bread we eat (except for the occasional croissant I can't resist) but up until about three weeks ago it was all by the bread machine which yielded a good but dry bread. Many times homemade 100% whole wheat bread has a strange strong yeast flavor that is so dense you have to drink a gallon on milk to get it down. I came upon the best 100% whole wheat bread recipe I have ever had here. It is delicious. I have the mixer kneed it for me and it's a cinch. It's a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen too if you don't mind less than exact measurements and flour on, in, and over everything. Oh what joy this season of life brings.

I've Stopped Dreaming

I don't know why it has taken me this long to blog but I guess it's the inevitable continuum from the old tattered journal. I have the urge to catch you up on things, but I will resist and begin with today. Today I will take risks rather than dream about them. For a long time I have been in a waiting mindset. Waiting to educate my children until I go back to school or waiting to grow my own garden until we have more land or waiting to plant flowers until we own a home. This new beginning has many potentials and the first are these three chicks: Maple, Mable and Model. We will have our eggs in a few months and it will be wonderful. We have had to sort of learn as we go, but hey they are still alive! Yes, we live in the suburbs and yes, we have a small backyard but that won't stop us. I want to begin now living out these dreams.