The Letter A ...
...is the first letter of the alphabet, so I will start here!

A is for apple. Why is it so tasty?

These are the letters/photos I have done so far:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Eventful Afternoon

Well, after an almost 4-month hiatus, we have returned to our blog!
Speedy realized that he hadn't written for the blog lately, and has inspired himself and I to do so (Sunshine is working on a new post as well).  I talked with him about some ideas, but he had a specific incident in mind.  I signed him in, and left him to his work! I returned and labeled his contribution "A Not-So-Sweet Consequence".
I too, had ideas of what to write about.  Then life happened.  So here was our afternoon:

   Sunshine took a short walk just after lunch.  She returned to tell us of the lovely wood fire one of our neighbors was having.  Not all that uncommon in our neighborhood, but strange for a Tuesday afternoon.  Well, about 15 minutes later, the first fire truck arrived.  The "wood fire" was an old wood character home across our street, 3 doors down. 
   The children spent much of the afternoon at the window, or out on the front deck watching the fire. Seedling giggled as she walked barefoot in the snow.  Speedy and Sprout tested their strength by kicking the last remaining pieces of their snow fort to the ground.  Then Sunshine joined them outdoors and threw Speedy in the snowbank in his t-shirt.  That warranted a warm bath for both Speedy and Sprout.  I thought we were done at this point, but within 5 minutes, both boys were dressed and outside again ( with sweaters, at least, this time!)
   We didn't see flames, rather A LOT of smoke.  We could hear the flames, the water, the windows breaking, and their smoke alarm once the windows were broken, and every neighborhood dog barking.  We enjoyed the lovely wood fire smell filled the entire neighborhood.



JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA

    It wasn't until we went to leave, and Sunshine went to lock up our dog did we notice there was no dog!  We called inside the house and out.  Speedy giggled when a small, yappy dog across the lane would bark back whenever he called out our dog's name.  At this time, we had to leave to drop Sunshine somewhere, but returned quickly to search the area.  Still no luck.  We were beginning to worry that the fire department might have called animal services and had him rescued. Just as we were giving up, a neighbor came running after us. "You're looking for a dog - I have him."

  This man was at a friend's house, but something had told him to go home early.  The fire was well under way at that point, and as he walked by the house to see the fire with his dog, he saw our dog running around, barking and jumping.  When our dog saw them and joined them, he just took him home with them.  He kept our dog in his backyard all afternoon, as neither dog is fixed.  At the time we first went out calling for our dog, he had let our dog into his house to warm up and eat, and had put his dog outside.  This was the dog that had barked each time Speedy called our dog's name.

   So, now all is well.
Our dog is safe, and returned to us. 
Sunshine has been contacted and is thrilled. 
The story of the fire has been aired on the news, and although no one was home at the time of the fire, there had been a dog in the home, whom the fireighters were unable to save. 
I beleive our dog (who never leaves our yard) had gone there to try to save the dog as well.
Thankfully, we had an extra pizza in our freezer from the weekend, and Big Cat Daries (lions, cheetas, etc.) is on, allowing us all a relaxing evening!

Not-So-Sweet Consequences

I Wint To Soperstowewr And I Didnt Lisin so I Didnt get a cooke. my berudeur and sistur got a cooke. I Did not like it. nex tim i wil get a cooke.

- speedy

Seedling turns One!

Hard to beleive it's been a year already!

The question I was repeatdly asked was "so what are you going to do on her birthday?".  I responded with "we're going to stay home and have a lazy, quiet day", and I felt that most people seemed disappointed.  I can tell you that we were not!   We had the opportunity to spend the whole day with Seed, unintrupted, unscripted, to just enjoy being with her, to reflect on her first year, and to pray into her next year with us.

Alright, the "quiet" part kinda happened ... and we did not forgo the birthday celebration.  Seed and Sprout decorated the kitchen with chocolate and butterscotch finger paint, while Speedy and Sunshine each baked and decorated her a small cake.

And she loved the cakes so much, that she stood up in her chair, and began dancing!

This project has been in the works for some time, but I did not want to spoil it. 

I haven't knit anything since I was seven, when my mother taught me to knit a scarf.  I have thought about trying to learn again, but finding the time/energy for somthing I don't really need to be doing ... yeah, it's just not going to happen.  Then Sunshine recieved a knitting loom as a gift.  Ah - this I can handle! Yes, you could call it cheating, and I would not agrue, but this was still quite an undertaking.

Two buntings for two new precious babies. I chose red and white so that they would be unisex, and had intended to add a flower/car emblishment when babies came, but life got in the way, and I decided best get the gifts to the babies before they outgrow them.

They are far from perfect, but full of love.

These also fit our cabbage patch dolls perfectly for when they are outgrown!

Getting back into "the swing of things" has not been easy.  I am having a hard time trying to do too much, but not getting anything done. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

For me, this comes down to priorities, organization, and schedule. 

Prioritizing is never fun for me.  I find this difficult because there is not usually an obvious, frivilous drain, or an easy solution!  It means really praying into what things need to be given my time an energies, and what things are not as important.   Yes, it means "giving up" doing some things that I value, but I find I am able to value my other priorities even more.

Organization can really make or break my priorities.  A house worthy of Better Homes and Gardens is not one of my top priorities, however, it does need to maintain some stanard for me to focus on my priorities.  If I fail to organize, I can spend all my time cleaning and "fixing" (which can be neverending) and never get around to my priorities.

Lastly, every time I make a shift in priorities, I realize that my whole household feels these shifts, and it can take some time to cement into our schedules.  I try not to overschedule our time, but the more consistant I can be, the more the children will know what is expcted of them (routine = less disclipline), and again, our main priorities are more likely to be met.

This week, I am my work in progress.  This does not mean I don't have a few other projects in the works, but whether or not they get completed really won't matter to anyone other than myself.

Sushi

Sushi!!

The first time I attmpted this was with a room of 2-year olds. It was so much fun watching them taste (and spit across the table) the ingredients before we rolled it.  Amazingly, they all tried it again once it was asssemble, and even more amazing - they ALL liked it!

(I still remember hearing the parents' comments:  "You got my child to eat WHAT?", and "He won't eat rice at home for us", etc.)

I stuck with fillings I knew they loved: carrots, cucumber, and tomato.

Still, I find myself shocked that my four children love this same sushi.  I have never gotten really creative with fillings, although they loved the imitation crab meat in there, and we do keep ginger and wasabi on hand to compliment the rolls.



Find other real food appetizer recipes at Whole Foods for the Holidays: A Real Food Progressive Dinner, hosted by Kitchen Stewardship this week.