Back to blogging

I have not been doing too much blogging as of late. I am not exactly sure why. I think there have been many reasons. The simple answer is that I am pregnant (yes, it's true! )and I have been feeling very sick and have to admit I have been watching WAY to many episodes of Brothers & Sisters. But the real reason I haven't been blogging is that I have been struggling with whether or not is is a positive thing in mine and my families lives. I worry that I am taking my attention from my family and the present moment focusing on reporting about it. I think. who am I even writing all this for anyway. Am I trying to prove something to myself or others by highlighting all the wonderful things that go on in my house, meanwhile not mentioning all the not so pleasant ones? Or is it simply a way of appreciating all the good things in life by stopping to remember them and sharing with others? Well, After this 10 days of laying on the couch in TV land.....I came to a conclusion. Okay, know, you must be wondering where this TV came from since we got rid of all of them last year. Yes, we have been TV free and loving it, but when I am sick I do want to sit and veg out in front of it, so I have John pull out our big screen from the closet and hook up Netflix. Anyway, all that tv watching just made me realize how much I want to be in my life, not watching someone else's. I realized that what blogging does for me is helps me to stay motivated with my kids and in that present moment that can be so illusive. I find so much joy in taking pictures and capturing our moments and then writing about them, thinking about the days when John and I will sit back 20 years from now and read them and remember moments that would have been lost.. Blogging makes me a better parent because I take that extra moment to make something more special, knowing that I am going to account for it later. It's almost like I have to report back to my parenting teacher, who will grade me on it later. I wish I didn't need that, but I think it just gives me that extra shove to get up and do some really cool stuff with my kids. Being a parent has made me a better person, and I think blogging is helping me see who that person really is.

Valentine's Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We had a few friends over yesterday to celebrate Valentines day by making cookies. Getting to make a big mess in my kitchen and seeing the joy on my kids faces is really one of my favorite parts about being a Mom. All the kids were great little cooks and they even cleaned up the mess together.

Valentines Cookies

1 C GF All Purpose Flour (Red Mills)

½ C White Rice Flour

1 t Xanthan Gum

1 t Baking Soda

¼ t Sea Salt

½ C Unsweetened Coco Powder

1/3 C Butter

½ t GF Vanilla Extract

1/2 C Real Maples Syrup

1/2 cup Coconut crystals

1 cup chocolate chips

1 Egg

Preheat Oven to 350ºF. Make sure butter is at room temperature and blend wet ingredients together. In separate bowl stir dry ingredients together. Add  dry to wet and incorporate without over mixing. Using a table spoon, place cookie dough onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes on middle rack. Check after 7 minutes to make sure they are not burning. The smaller the cookie the faster it will bake.(Makes about 12 to fourteen cookies)

Finding Fun Knitting Projects

After the initial excitement around learning to knit, my daughter became quickly bored with it.  The other day she says to me "Mommy, I am really so sorry, but I just have to say something to you. Okay?...... I hate knitting. I really hate it. I just hate it. I'm sorry." Well, what do I do with that? I had to think about it. On one hand, I suppose everyone has the right to not enjoy certain activities, but on the other hand I had to really think about what part of it she wasn't liking. I didn't want to just throw away all that yarn and energy spent in learning it. Besides, I really do think it is a great activity that everyone should at least know how to do. So, I decided to rethink the scarf or blanket idea, and gear our knitting to what my kids love. Little animals, dolls or other small toys.  And it worked! We got the whole family in on the fun and  came up with some really exciting, creative things to make. The kids took out paper and designed what they wanted to knit and we were off. Even my 3 year old learned to finger knit with one finer to make knitted flowers.

Jetta's new monster named Emma. 

So I think what I realized from this experience is that you may think you hate something, but maybe you just haven't found the part of it that you could enjoy. This is a concept I want to explore some more. Who know, maybe I just think I hate working on cars, and doing math problems........
I think Jetta has changed her mind about knitting.....at least for now. On to the next project! 

Feederbrook Farm Fiber Project : Picking our sheep

This year we have all learned to knit. In an effort to see where the wool we are using comes from we decided to join the Feeder Brook Farm Fiber Project. Once a month for a year we get to spend a few hours with the sheep at a local farm learning about sheering, lambing, processing the wool and much more. This past month was our first visit. We got to tour the farm and pick out our sheep. It was wonderful spending time on the farm and the kids loved being around the animals. We chose Ryley (pictured below). She was the smallest one with a cute black and white face. Good choice kids!