The newest artist in the family

When Rollin is awake, he is quite active, and it's hard to get much done, which is okay, and as it should be, but sometimes I just need a few minutes to cook or make a phone call or whatever without all the pots and pans coming out of the drawers. So one night I discovered he could be entertained for about 30 minutes sitting in his high chair coloring with markers. I don't abuse this (at least I try not to!), but it does come in handy in a pinch and he is always very proud of his work.

Big decision, which color.


Double time
All done!

A beautiful morning....

This morning we awoke to a bright orange sky off in the distance. Sela woke us all to show us and we went outside to admire it and try and photograph it (my picture does the scene no justice). After we took Sela to school, I took Rollin and Nina on a walk on the pipeline trail. This trail is breathtaking no matter which direction you look. It is peaceful and beautiful. We met this really neat woman on our walk. She is an adventure coach. We had a nice talk about parenting and she expressed to me how she thoroughly enjoyed every moment and stage of her children's young lives and how quickly the time flies. Her children are young adults now. She was so excited to see children on the trail, which is what got her talking about her own kids. She said this is how they grew up...outside, and she never knew a child who was a bad child when they were outside. She told me about hot yoga and how she thinks is the ultimate cleanse for body and mind. She also talked to me some new trails and places to take the kids that I had not heard of before. Nina and Rollin LOVED her dogs...mini australian shephards. They were really great dogs, so well behaved and very cute. I asked her all about them and it turns out one is having puppies around christmas. We exchanged information. Hopefully we'll meet her on the trail again. I could talk to her for hours.

Naked Jaybirds

There is nothing in this world Rollin loves more than to run around the house naked. He skips and gallops, dances and twirls. Sometimes I don't let him play naked after his bath because he has been known to spring a leak or two, but today he climbed out on his own while I ran to get a towel, and I heard his heavy little footsteps racing down the hall. Then came Nina!

How we love a long weekend....

Some images from the nice long weekend. Lots of cooking, working and playing in the yard, and resting.

An attempt at whole wheat cinnamon rolls
Rollin watching daddy work
We had a huge tree cut down on our property because it was dying.
Now that's a leaf!
Sela and Nina helping move the small logs....we're hoping to make a teepee with them in the spring.

Rollin taking a moment to reflect on his life to this point

Ahhh, come Sunday, it was time for a good nap.

Airplane!

Gift Making

Sela drew a dinosaur for her little friend Noah, and we experimented with making an iron-on. I think it turned out great!! The dinosaur would probably look better facing the opposite direction, but hey, that's part of the charm. Sela is very excited to present it to Noah for his birthday. It's so much fun to make gifts!

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving for us is a holiday often subject to a last minute change of plans. We had planned on family coming this year but with the condition of our floors (still not finished) and the weather (or what we thought the weather would be) I think Zig advised them to wait a bit for a visit. I always like a crowd on Thanksgiving so at the last minute we agreed to go to the the Low's for dinner. Our Thanksgiving this year was completely low stress and I think we all enjoyed it. I made three dishes to take to dinner, so at least I was able to cook something, although it was very simple. The weather turned out to be clear and sunny the past few days, although quite chilly.

Nina made an Indian costume at school and Sela had the same one from when she was in preschool so we tried to make one for Rollin. It turned out cute but Mr. OCD would not wear it for one second. It made a wierd sound. So, we put a headband on him and stuck leaves in it. Nope, he didn't like that either.
























Thanksgiving morning, the girls and I were very excited to be invited over to the Barr's for a tea party!! We love, love, love the Barr girls and their mother Carmen. Living near them is one of the few things we miss from our old neighborhood. Grace, Bianca, and Tina have been babysitting the girls for the last two years and I've had fun with them in Young Women's. They are all great cooks, and Bianca has her own cooking show on her website. So, of course we jumped at the chance to see them and have a tea party. They made Lemon Ginger tea, croissant bread pudding, and blueberry citrus scones. Everything was divine. My Thanksgiving could have been complete right there.

Grace, Bianca, Sela and Nina
Tina and Sela

















The only bummer about the day is that we broke our very important tradition of seeing a movie after the big dinner. Our dinner ran long and we were sad to miss the movie we had planned to see with the Davis'. The girls were not pleased, but it's not easy to duck out early from a Thanksgiving dinner at someone else's house :)

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We feel so blessed to have family we love so dearly and whose love we constantly feel in our lives. We have our health which is so precious. We have the the Gospel which teaches us to live more purpose driven lives and to be better, more humble people by following Jesus Christ. With family, health and faith in Christ, how could we ever want for anything more. We feel so very fortunate and appreciative of all the good and joy in our lives. We love you, our family and friends, so dearly, and miss you all this year. Happy Thanksgiving.

Mini Thanksgiving Feast

Nina is having a mini thanksgiving feast at preschool today. Each child is bringing nine little servings of one of their favorite foods to share. We decided to make mini applesauce muffins. We all love these muffins. They are so yummy can be made in a snap. I often add walnuts, but they are great plain. They taste like cake and are super moist. Sweetened with applesauce rather than sugar.

CINNAMON APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup molasses (for increased sweetness use half molasses and half honey)
1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or whatever flour you want)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Mix the oil molasses, and applesauce. Mix together the dry ingredients. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the raisins. Drop into muffin cups and bake 18-20 min. Makes about 12 muffins.

Dear Santa,

It's that time of year, lots of Santa talk around here. Sela has been working hard on her list for Santa, modifying, erasing, adding items, licking, taping, and re-taping the precious Santa letter. She asked me tonight if she thought it would be okay if she added one more thing to the list or should she just make a new list with a new envelope. I told her probably just add it to the first list so Santa won't think you're being greedy. Then she pondered on the greedy thing all evening and I could tell she was hesitating, but eventually she added "sticker book" to the list. I remember my first sticker book!! It was hot pink and I LOVED it. I can picture it in detail right now.














Here are the items on Sela's list, some are a bit hard to discern:

1) a white newsboy hat (she thought it was a fedora at the time)
2) Horse back riding lessons
2) Stuffed animal husky dog
4) A sled
5) My little pet shop something or other
6) Puppies
7) A sticker book

Since there is a ban on all things plastic in our house (I make exceptions for MLPShop because they are teeny tiny), I like Sela's list. It very much shows who she is and what her interests are at this time. She tried on a white wool newsboy hat last weekend and fell in love. The challenge for me is finding one for a child.

ps I realize it is hard to read parts of my post because of the background...I have to change that sometime...I just haven't had time. I'll get to it eventually....

Browsing for chickens...

Zig and the girls spent some quality time looking through a mail order chicken catalog tonight. I have to say I am getting pretty excited about the whole chicken thing. Of course, I've always been excited about the prospect of my own fresh eggs, but now I'm actually excited about the chickens themselves. There are some beautiful chickens out there. I never realized there could be such variety!

Pizza Day

Friday is pizza day and Nina was my little dough maker this morning. Making pizza on fridays gives us a way to use up all our veggies and also have some fun as we begin the weekend. Pizza dough is so simple and both Sela and Nina love the satisfaction of watching the dough rise...as do I. I taught Nina to knead the dough today and she worked hard pushing and folding with her tiny little hands.



















We have tried many pizza dough recipes but I've settled on the following recipe for the last month or so. I don't use white flour in most of my baking, but pizza dough is one of the few exceptions. I haven't found a whole grain dough I like that makes a thin and crispy crust which is the only crust I like. We also made some butternut squash sweet potato soup. Rollin is quite congested and lost his voice so I thought some soup might help the little guy.


















Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast

2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ROLL out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

The Long-Awaited Playdate

With five half-days in a row beginning today, we finally have a chance for playdates. Sela and Treela have wanted to have a playdate since the very first day they met. We had scheduled one at one point, but it fell through because something came up. Treela is new to Hollywood Hill this year like Sela. Anyway, today we finally got together when Treela and her brothers, Noah and Tenysen, came over while their mom went to her parent-teacher conference at the school. They are this wonderful little family. Their mom Suzanne and I are the art docents for Sela's class. I was instantly drawn to her...she is artsy and natural (for lack of a better term) and just has this calm about her that is wonderful. Anyway,I am so happy our paths have crossed and Ilook forward to getting to know them better. Her kids are happy and easy going and very kind. They are total outdoor enthusiasts and though it was raining steadily this afternoon, by looking at them, you would think it was a bright sunny day. They ran all around playing and found bugs and leaves. They are darling. Little Tenysen just hobbled along and watched all that was going on. Noah was the prince and dressed up right along with the girls. It was so much fun to watch them play.

Sela and Treela hanging like monkeys in the greenhouse.
The whole gang of monkeys.
The little cherubs.
Playinng on the chickens' future palace.

A work in progress...

I decided to try and spruce up my blog, inspired by my sister-in-law Amber's ever-changing and always lovely blog. The "edit html" button now means something! Zig are you so proud of me?!! I actually tried something "hard" on the computer. Hee hee. It doesn't look right yet, I've just been playing around. I now have to sleep because my ND said today that it is VERY likely all the people in our household will have what Rollin has in a few days. Lovely, just lovely. I can hardly wait. And I'm sure I haven't helped my immune system much by endulging in Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe Joe's. Last year it was nothing short of a tragedy in our household that Trader Joe's sold completely out of them before we ever tried one. I could only imagine how they tasted after Erin described them to me. Today as I was walking down the frozen section, I glanced up at the shelves above, and they appeared in all their glory. Yes, I stocked up. Now, I just have to use some serious restraint. They are sooooo incredibly yummy.

There's never a good time....

I sure hope I burned some serious calories at the gym last week, because I'm paying a sweet price tonight. I knew it was too good to be true. For the last 10 hours, Rollin has been having diahrea and vomitting, the flu for sure. Love that childcare. My day has been the following: Rollin moves to a corner and has serious rumblings...I sprint to him, hoist him to the bath, strip him down, run the horrendous diaper outside, wash him, clean him, give him liquid, put a diaper on. He skips around for another hour and the process repeats itself. Bath, new outfit, liquids, cuddles, Rollin skips around and boom, again. This is Rollin's first real sickness at 20 months old and his stamina is amazing me. How you can have it from both ends and then jump on the bed and laugh is just bizarre. Especially with the frequency. Poor little guy. His spirits are up but wow. I don't really want to go to sleep with him because I really don't want to wake up in puke. I feel too bad to put him in his crib though, because he could vomit on himself like he did earlier and not wake up.

I hope this isn't morbid, but I have laughed a few times today. Rollin has learned the word poop today. When he vomited on his pillow he kept saying ooooh, poop. It's so dang funny. He also makes all kinds of faces when we are pampering him. The girls have both observed how being sick really gets you lots and lots of attention. Nina has a serious case of bottle envy. They have been helping me rub Rollin's little feet and head and just being good comforters. We try and get him to lay down but as soon as he regains any energy, he has to get up and blow it.

Hopefully the morning will bring an end to this. This isn't the kind of sick that is okay, like the low grade fever that causes the kids to just be mellow and lay around, I don't mind that so much :) But this is high maintenance and I'm already getting worn out. Right now my little yak is sitting on the floor eating the rice cake I gave him so he can puke it up in uh..let me look at the clock...25 minutes.

The week in review....

We've had a nice week this week. I had a small breakthrough with Rollin which is very promising. When the weather starts changing and the days get shorter, exercise becomes a lot more important for my sanity. This week, I was just dying for a small break in the day to just work out...alone :) I haven't been going to the gym because Rollin doesn't like to be left in the childcare, especially without his sisters. Anyway, I kind of decided that he wouldn't die if he went to the gym for one hour. We have 2 1/2 hours everyday while Nina is at preschool that we usually run errands....but he is only good for about one and then watch out. Anyway, the good news is I took him to the gym and he loved it. He didn't want to leave. It was awesome. On the second day when I came to pick him up, I just watched him playing in the basketball area for awhile before he saw me. He was having a great time, plus there are lots of boyish toys there which we are definitely lacking at home. I don't even know what boys like to play with. Zig said maybe I should ask Cathy what boys like. We have blocks and a few little things, but he likes the singing barbie most "I'm just like you, you're just like me, it's something anyone can see...a heart that beats, a voice that speaks the truth, yes I am a girl like you." He loves that toy but Zig gets a funny uncomfortable look on his face when he sees Rollin staring into the eyes of the naked singing barbie. I think it's adorable. I'm not worried about his manliness at this age. He's all the boy I can handle already!!!

There was a Veteran's Day assembly at school on Thursday which was really touching and attended by veterans in the community who have grandchildren at the school. The Principal had a total gaffe when he told the audience to be seated during the national anthem. He was quite embarassed when he was quickly made aware of his mistake. A couple of the veterans spoke to the kids about what it means to be a veteran. All of the children sang a song about Heroes to the veterans. Afterwards, we stayed and played on the playground after Sela got out of school.























Sela had a great week at school. She was awarded a Star Skill Award for writing by the principal. The principal took her picture and it is hanging at the school. Sela loves to write stories and is always hard at work on a new one. She woke up early this morning to finish her latest one called "Fire Deer." It was neat that she was recognized for something that really matters to her. She was sooo excited to bring the news home. She also enjoyed dressing "cozy and crazy" for school for a special theme day on Monday. I'm so happy to see Sela enjoying her new school so much. She has adjusted very well and has a really fantastic teacher. She is also very helpful around the house with ROllin and has started to sneak in at night when I am rocking him to sleep to sing him lullabies. He usually sings back...it's very sweet.

















Nina learned that she is quite skilled in the game of Memory as she beat us all this week. She loves to play card games and to have stories read to her all day long. She brings them to the bath with her so I can to her read while she bathes. I told her this week how much I love her bright little eyes and her adorable voice. They bring me such joy.

Rollin is turning out to be my little helper. He loves to clean up messes,and he makes plenty. Mom taught him to bring his plate to the sink when she was here and he loves to do that. He drops half his food on the way, but he at least he hurries over to clean it up. This week I had the dry vac out and it kept him entertained for at least 30 minutes. He was good at it too and actually really cleaned up a lot. I'm very excited about that.



















Friday there was no school and we met our friends for breakfast at the Maltby Cafe, consistently voted Seattle's best breakfast. Even on a weekday, we waited about 40 minutes, but the kids were nice and hungry when we sat down. They all did well and the food was really good. Not the very best I've had, but a really good "down home" breakfast. The pancakes in the shape of a teddy bear were a real hit with the kids. Afterwards, the girls were begging for a park so we went to Cottage Lake Park. Sela and Nina went over to Kate and Emma's afterwards and then we all went to a birthday party for Sela's friend Perrie at Jump Planet. When we walked in the door of our house that afternoon, Nina was literally begging to go to sleep.
Rollin and Jane
Nina and Emma
Sela and Kate












Zig went to Japan this morning and will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm tired just thinking about that travel schedule. He has been very, very busy this past week. I think some deals are in the works that will likely keep him tied up until Christmas. This weekend, he had a nice break (a relative term) and spent all day Saturday working in the yard and clearing a path for the fence to go in. There is one small part of the yard that is not fenced and since we will likely be acquiring some animals in the near future, we are having the fence finished. Eric broke ground on the chicken coup. When I saw it I asked Zig if we were building a chicken coup or a guesthouse. It's huge. At least it looks that way. I can tell Zig is excited and enjoys planning this kind of stuff. Apparently, the coup will look like the house in some way. We'll see. For now, it's just in the framing stage. I'm very excited about having green and blue eggs like martha stewart :) Eric, this wonderful, wonderful guy we have working on some projects around here, has chickens and assured me they only take minimal effort. He gave us some of his eggs and they were so yummy.


















We had a great bookclub meeting this week, almost everyone made it. We discussed The Painted Veil. I loved the book, tragic but it provided much to think about. I found a few hours yesterday to get my hair cut which was long overdue. Ryan, my hairdresser, pretty much won't let me grow my hair out at all and insists on keeping it short, so it's super short again. Not sure what I think, but it's just hair. It's time to end, this is much too long. Have a wondeful night, everyone.

I have finally found it.....

Okay, I've been on a hunt for a certain recipe for years! As Erin and Mom can attest, we fell in love with these cornmeal pancakes we had years ago in Puerto Vallarta!!!! It seems like such a simple thing, but they were amazing and so memorable. Erin and I still talk about them from time to time, trying to figure out what it was that made them so good. It's been at least ten years ago and I have been adding cornmeal to various pancake recipes since then, but it is never the same. I've never had the same texture as the original no matter what I've done. It just so happened I bought this new cookbook last week (Pure Flavor) and tucked in the back in the very brief breakfast section was a recipe for Masa Flour Pancakes with Three-Citrus Honey Butter Syrup. I quickly scanned the description and recipe and it looked like this might be the closest thing to those amazing pancakes we had. The moment of truth came this morning when I tried them out (Wednesday is pancake day). I am so thrilled to say that my search for the recipe is finally over!! These were wonderful and just like I remember. Sela, Rollin, and Nina gobbled them up. The key ingredient is the masa flour which was easy to find. Enjoy!!! The citrus syrup makes it divine.

Masa Flour Pancakes

2 teaspoons unpacked light brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 cup masa flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon salsa verde
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Three Citrus Honey Butter Syrup

Combine brown sugar, 1 cup of the flour, baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the salsa verde, egg, vanilla, and milk. Slowly add the melted butter.

Gently stir the liquid mixture in to the dry mixture until it is fully combined. The batter should be slightly thick. If it is not thick enough, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour (I did not need to add it). Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake onto the griddle, leaving 2 inches between pancakes. When small bubbles form around the edges of the pancakes at about 1 1/2 minutes, flip. The pancakes should be golden brown on the bottom. Repeat and serve with Three-Citrus Honey Butter Syrup.

Three-Citrus Honey Butter Syrup

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 stick butter
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
2 teaspoons grated grapefruit zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 cup honey

Dissolve cornstarch in water. Bring to boil hte other ingredients and add cornstarch. Mix until combined. Serve warm

* I did not make the syrup this way, but I used it more as a guide. I used about 1 tablespoon of butter, about 1/4 cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, zest of lemon, lime and orange, and the juice of an orange. It made just the right amount. And, it is a delicious syrup for these pancakes.

Halloween

Oh wow, what a week. Halloween is always an exciting time. I try to plan ahead each year and get the kids to nail down what they want to be. It never works. Both Sela and Nina changed at the last minute. Sela decided to be a spider witch after we planned for Little Red Riding Hood. Nina was the newest barbie princess, Island Princess, instead of the mermaid she had wanted to be for the last two months. Rollin was going to be a dalmation, but he had a cold and it was pretty chilly, so he went to sleep before he could debut his cute little costume, the only homemade one I was actually proud of. But, it was all fun. We tried to keep the actual day of Hallween pretty low key. I made pumpkin cream cheese and bagels for breakfast and a Butternut Squash Soup for dinner so I did my best to be festive with the food. I also was able to get them to eat lots of veggies and pretty much anything I wanted all day so they could indulge in their candy that evening.

I have never met a butternut squash soup recipe I didn't love, but this one might be my favorite. It was so simple but the almond sage topping just made it. We have sage growing all over the yard so this was a perfect use.


Trick or Treating was really fun for the girls. Much to Sela's delight, we met up with Sela's best friend from school, Treela, and trick or treated with her family. We didn't even plan to see them and we met them at our first stop. We went to the only actual neighborhood on Hollywood Hill called "The Farm." It was so fun to go to each house.... the people really went all out with the decorating and seemed to love all the kids. When it got too chilly, and the little buckets were overflowing, we came home. The girls sorted the candies into like pieces and then asked me what all the candies were. That made me swell with pride. Just kidding. They threw away everything with colors or dyes very willingly and kept the chocolate. We put it up in the cabinet and they have pretty much forgotton about it. A piece here and there, but most went to the candy fairy who left them a small treat in exchange for the loot.


Nina made playdough for her friends at preschool.




Sela and Treela...Treela is so sweet, always holding hands and hugging Sela. She is very kind. They are best buddies for sure.


All week I prepared to teach this class at church on Holiday Gifts for Neighbors and Friends. I agreed in order to help my friend who was in charge, but it was actually a lot more work than I realized. I enjoy trying out new recipes and getting ideas, but it was just a busier week than usual, so it was a little stressful to have the class looming in my mind. I made Triple Ginger cookies from the new amazing cookbook, Macrina (a local seattle bakery), and Cranberry Orange cookies. Some of the other things I made for were a healthy party mix, cranberry almond granola, vanilla almond granola, herb nut couscous mix, Exfoliating grains, mexican spiced hot chocolate, two kinds of spiced nuts, and other non-food type gifts. It was really fun. I'm glad it's over, but also glad it got me organized for my own gifting for the holidays.