Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend, the girls and I headed to the Seattle Art Museum to see the Nick Cave Exhibit.What a cool exhibit, especially for children. The materials and textures and color used to create this incredible art from recycled materials was really quite impressive. What a feast for the eyes! My only fear is that the girls might try to emulate Nick on a smaller scale and start saving all kinds of nicknacks and junk otherwise headed to the recycle bin or Goodwill! And I just finished some serious household purging...




Of course they liked this exhibit of a mouse standing on a man in his bed.

We couldn't take pictures of the Nick Cave works because it's the feature exhibition, but for anyone with kids in the Seattle area, it is so worth seeing!

Afterward, we just had to walk down to Pike Place Market for some donuts.


The week before Mother's Day, Sela would head to the computer using every spare minute she had. She would cover both she and the computer with a blanket and work on something very top secret. On Sunday evening, she gathered everyone in the living room and gave a little Mother's Day tribute and played her movie.  It included music, pictures, video, interviews. I was blown away. I do not know how to do what she did. We watched it several times and wow, what a labor of love! I was touched beyond words. 

Well, this photo is about ten seconds after we walked in the door from church, and the kids are in various stages of undress and silliness....Rollin somehow managed to do a complete outfit change...impressive. But these are the four little people who make this day so special for me. I don't need gifts or recognition on Mother's Day, although  I certainly appreciate all the sweet little homemade gifts created with such love and presented with so much excitement. Sela, Nina, Rollin, and Evan are my gifts today and every day.  I'm so happy to be sharing the best years of  my life with them. I love you little monkeys!!!

 And I'm so thankful for my own Mom who loves my kids like her own and is a constant support and example in my life. When I think of my mom, I think of her laugh.  I know she would drop everything at a moment's notice to help me or any of my siblings in any way, and she has many times. I know she would do anything in the world for me, and I've known that ever second of my 35 years on this earth. Now that is a mother worth celebrating. I love you, Mom!

And after this miserable Spring in Seattle, I'm truly regretting not joining you guys in Costa Rica this month. I think I'm beginning to mold here.

Cinco de Mayo

I'm a little late on this post, but we tried some new dishes for Cinco de Mayo. I love any excuse to make Mexican food and also to try new recipes, so even though the fact that the Mexicans defeated the French in a battle in the mid 1800s has little to do with us, I still like to celebrate. Plus, I practically grew up in Mexico, that should count for something. Zig was out of town this year on the 5th so it was just the kids and I (and Kona who scored on the leftovers). I made Chicken with Chilaquiles and Salsa Verde and also Jicama-Melon Salad. I had fun using my mandolin and making perfect little matchsticks out of the jicama. Those things make me so nervous even with the guard. I swear I'm going to slice a fingertip off one day! I thought about attempting homemade churros, but we had a busy day and I was lucky to get what I did on the table. The kids would have been so stoked had I made the churros, but I didn't, and luckily there's always next year!

  Chilaquiles



Jicama-Melon Salad (plus mangoes & minus the pomegranate seeds which are out of season but would have made the salad so pretty).

snacktime

Heidi Swanson's new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, arrived a couple of weeks ago amidst a very jam packed string of days. I was dying to sit down with the cookbook and read every page. Her cookbooks are so beautiful and interesting. Finally I just quickly flipped through and the first recipe that caught my eye was the most unexpected combination. It was a coconut-kale salad, two of my favorite foods. I knew I had to make it right away, and it was so, so good. I've made it again and again. I don't even get to the adding the grains part...I just eat the roasted coconut/kale by the handfuls. It's a great snack!


chop kale..I used two varieties.

Get some unsweetened large flaked coconut

Toss together in a bowl with some tamari, sesame oil, and olive oil. (I used a little soyaki since I was out of sesame oil)

spread it out and roast at 350 until the coconut starts to brown and the kale begins to crisp.

From this point you can serve this mixed with a grain like farro or quinoa.....or not.

I got such a kick out of Evan gobbling this stuff up. Another lesson not to assume kids won't like certain foods!




Next up: white bean spread with rosemary and toasted almonds!

technically, it's spring

The rhubarb is growing like crazy. I think it would take living in the tundra to stop the rhubarb. We used the last of our strawberries from last spring and made a strawberry rhubarb crisp...definitely one of my favorites. Where other years we are eating outside by now, this year we are bundled up inside waiting for a real spring.I don't think we're going to have one, but I am going to eat like we are!

My baby is TWO!

Evan turned 2 on May 2nd, although it feels like he's been with us for much longer. He is sweet, sensitive, cuddly, determined, a bit stubborn and very feisty. I love him to pieces.





I have so much on my mind right now that I'm having some trouble staying current on the blog, but boy did we celebrate our little Evan! Sela helped make him a delicious strawberry country cake. He didn't really know what to think when we started singing and bringing a cake with a lit candle to him. He wouldn't blow out the candle for a long time, and ended up getting some "accidental" help.



For dinner, I made tomato soup and white cheddar melts, roasted asparagus, and a big salad. Evan will eat anything, ANYTHING, in the form of soup. The day before he had scarfed down a curried chickpea/cabbage soup. He's a good little eater, albeit a very messy one. 














To say Evan idolizes Rollin is an understatement. He watches everything he does. I've seen him on several occasions trying to mouth the words Rollin is saying as he is talking. Oh, he tries so hard to emulate him. It is so sweet and fun to watch their relationship grow. Rollin is so patient and puts up with a lot from Evan...constant wrecking of his things, occasional biting, etc. He's a pretty fantastic big brother. I'm so happy they have each other.










Evan never falls asleep outside of his bed. I think this was a first at Maw Maw's house!

Evan also loves shoes. It's a borderline obsession. He loves music and always sings in the car. Sometimes he tries his hardest to drown out the radio. He is a determined dancer and we all get a kick out of watching him go crazy. He is a daredevil, already. Sigh. His favorite thing to do is to climb up in the windowsill in the kitchen and jump to the couch.

The very first thing he has said for months when he wakes up in the morning is "Where's Nina?" Very recently he has followed this with "Where's Si Si" and "Where's Ra Ra?" He loves to go, go, go. If he sees me as much as put on my shoes or begin gathering things like my purse, he is running, I mean falling over himself full out panic sprinting to the door.




He drives us a little crazy when it's time to eat. He hates his chair, and desperately wants to sit in a regular chair, but he takes one bite and runs, smears, wipes, and then returns to do it again. Oh to have the boundless energy of a child (and a live-in maid)!




Happy Birthday, Evan. I adore you, sweet baby.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! After church we gave a family photo our best shot.


Evan has not been photographed smiling in a family photo since birth. But we got one today!


And then he started pulling Nina's hair and kicking Rollin.


Oh, the joy of a family photo attempt!







I tried to get a photo of Zig's Mom with the family, but I stepped too far away from Evan (way to keep the focus, Rollin!)

 






Let the treasure hunt begin!


First clue.




Evan couldn't keep up with the treasure hunter so he sat down for a rest.









After deciphering a dozen clues, they  found their Easter baskets in the tree house.



We had a relaxing Easter Sunday. Zig's Mom watched Evan while we went to church. What a gift! Zig and I taught our Sunday School class (Sela's grade), and we were able to talk about many of Christ's miracles. We love our little class!

In the evening we went to celebrate Pascha at the Borozan's house. They go to a church most similar to  Greek Orthodox and it is tradition to roast a lamb for Easter. This is done with much reverence, thanksgiving, and meaning. We really enjoyed witnessing some of their very beautiful traditions which included dancing and singing with young and old, wonderful music, and lots of joyful people. This was such a nice way to end a wonderful weekend.