Some Summer

Working in the garden



Developing our circus act



art projects

Taking walks

Burying Treasures


Enjoying nature

You gotta try this...

We started out the day with instructions from a magazine to make a small marshmallow catapult. It worked so well and I quickly figured out the engineering of it all that I wanted to make a bigger one. We found two trees close together, a few strong poles, an exercise band (bungee cord would work too) and a sand shovel. My lashing skills from girls camp finally came in handy and the catapult was launching pine cones in minutes.



Find instructions to make your own here-
href="http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/marshmallow-catapult-874571/">

New Recipes

Adults and kids loved loved loved these new recipes, so I wanted to share. The soup I made up to use up leftover rice.

Coconut Chicken Rice Soup
1 onion, chopped
Oil for sautéing
½ tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 can coconut milk
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
2-3 chicken breasts cut up
4-6 cups chicken broth
2-3 cups cooked rice
Chopped fresh parsley

Saute onion until soft. Add remaining ingrediants except rice and parsley. Boil, then simmer 20 min or so until chicken is cooked well. Add rice and parsley. Serve.

Almond Butter Cookies
1/2 cup natural almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or more)
Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, combine natural almond butter, maple syrup, oil, egg and vanilla extract until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, along with chopped almonds, and stir until just combined. Let sit for five minutes. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, flatten to about 1/3 of an inch and place onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.

Lilliputian Lunch

I'm learning the best way to get thru this parenting thing in one piece is to be as fun and silly as possible. A smart parent must have come up with April fools day. Around here we put bugs in shoes and mix up cereal bags. We took rubber snakes to preschool for sharing and froze cups of milk. My favorite so far was my trick on Perrie. I sent her to school with a super miniature lunch.
A cheese sandwich the size of my thumbnail, teeny weeny carrot sticks, a bowl of applesauce the size of my thumb and a mini chocolate chip for dessert. I gave the teacher her real lunch for after the surprise. I cant wait for her to come home. Im still planning dinner, this looks good- it is actually a meatloaf pie with mashed potatoes. I found it at www.famliyfun.go.com This website has lots of fun ideas. Cant wait for the kids to pull one on me.

Green Menu

We had a delicious green soup tonight in honor of St. Patricks Day. Everyone LOVED it and I couldn’t get enough of it. Can you guess what it was made from? It grows in my yard.
Did you guess stinging nettles? That right. And it was very tasty. Did you know that nettles contain the highest plant source of iron? It is an EXCELLENT source of vitamins, minerals and protein. It is literally a super-food and they are FREE! Stinging nettles lose their sting when cooked. They can be used in place of spinach or kale in most cooked recipes. They are best when picked young in early spring. You have got to try this. I do have a sting or two to show for it as I didn’t use leather gloves when picking it, but soo worth it. We also had edamame, salad, vegi booty and fruit rainbow shish-kabobs for dinner. Here is the soup recipe I made. I think this may become a tradition.

Nettle Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 TBL butter
1 lb potatoes, cut up (I used yukon unpeeled)
6 cups chicken or vegi broth
1/2 lb stinging nettles
1/2 tsp thyme
sour cream, yogurt, or cream for garnish (optional)

Saute onion in butter about 5 min. Add potatoes and broth. Boil then simmer for 15 min. Add nettles & thyme and cook until tender, about 10 min. Puree soup with an immersion blender or in a blender. Season to taste and serve.

I don’t think this is the last you will hear of me & my nettles.
Nettle Lasagna...Nettle Pesto...Nettle muffins...

home away from home

All this nice weather has got me thinking...my yard needs more kid elements. Wouldn't these playhouses be fun?




I am gathering some ideas and materials. Lets see how much time I have to get anything done! Got any plans yourself?

(playhouses from http://aplaceimagined.blogspot.com/)

Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.-Plato

Boys.
Four-year old boys.
Someone forgot to give me the owners manual,
Specificly the troubleshooting chapter.

Did I feed him enough, or too much?
Did he sleep enough, or too much?
Is he bored or not getting enough attention?
Does he need to go run around for 2 hours or take a nap?
Should I sign him up for soccer, tai kwon do, art, music, wilderness survival?
Is this behavior normal? Should I be worried about this?

Many days we run the gamut of emotions here and I am often at a loss as to what to do. How do I tame this wild horse, but still keep his passions and confidence? Hmmm, maybe I will read up on taming actual wild horses.