{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual with Amanda Soule. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

sweater of many colors

My dear friend Maija from college (we met freshman year in the dorms, studied abroad in London together and were roommates throughout college) just had her second child, a sweet boy named Ryker. When I visited Maija after her first son, Marshall, was born I was struck by how all his clothes were in bright, fun colors. So when I found out she was having another baby I just had to make this new babe a bright, colorful sweater. My sweet Silas, 5 months old, begged to model it before we wrapped it up and sent it to Ryker. If you want the FREE pattern or knitting notes, check out my Ravelry page here.

As part of Ginny's Yarn Along we're also supposed to note what we're currently reading. I'm usually reading 3-4 books at a time. Which book I pick up depends on the time of day, where I'm reading (at the gym, home with kids, home after kids are in bed, etc.). This week I'm reading a sweet book from the 1930's called Down the Garden Path thanks to the idea from Lori, Montessori From the Start which has so many excellent ideas for how to foster independence and self esteem in children babies-age 3, and The Paleo Diet Cookbook. I'm also browsing through all my gardening books like The New Self Sufficient Gardener, Mini Farming and the Backyard Homestead to get inspired and help plan the changes we're making to our garden and yard this year. Did I tell you we're raising 30 meat chickens with friends (on their property- not our backyard!)? We'll be butchering them in a few weeks. I bet you can't wait for that blog post!

spring on Tracie's farm

 

 

This morning the girls, West and I had the opportunity to go visit our friend and Mira's piano teacher, Tracie's, family farm. We've been going to piano there every Monday for more than two years now but had never walked around the farm. They had six calves born last week and they invited us to come bottle feed them and see them. We had a wonderful time with Tracie and her boys and we loved the chance to get out of town for a morning and spend time on their beautiful farm. West came home a muddy mess, but what else would you expect from a two year old boy? Thank you Tracie for a great time!

if only every weekend were this good

Oh how I love weekends like this. Weekends that include delicious food, great friends, time to sew and knit, sunshine and time to work in the garden.

On Saturday the girls and I were invited to a brunch and craft party with friends from church. There were not one, not two or three, but FOUR kinds of chocolate desserts after the yummy brunch. These Oreo cream cheese truffles were to die for and worth breaking my diet for five minutes. The girls worked on their embroidery, knitting and made flower hair clips with the other girls and I finished (yes, finished!) my Annabel cardigan (Rav notes here and photos coming soon).

Sunday after church I made West some blue and white seersucker and linen reversible pants for Easter. They turned out so cute. I'll post photos soon.

West and I also spent lots of time weeding the garden, thinning the strawberries and adding compost to all the beds. I think the chickens are worth every penny not only for the eggs but for the amazing organic compost they provide. Our plants that are getting the chicken compost are four times the size of the others. This week, weather permitting, we'll be adding new raised beds, rototilling and planting the first seeds.

I've been tracking my calories through MyFitnessPal.com, working out 5-6 days a week and eating mostly grain free for three months now and I'm down 23 pounds since Jan 1st! This dinner above is one of my favorite low -cal (only 294 calories) and grain free dinners. 3 butternut squash rounds, 1/4 cup Eden Organic pizza sauce, 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella and 8 turkey pepperonis cut up. Sometimes I use blue cheese or feta and sun dried tomatoes and a little chicken apple sausage. Be sure to pre-bake your butternut squash rounds at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, then flip them and top with toppings and bake again for 12-15 minutes.

this week

 

This week we've had days where it snowed all day long and accumulated enough to build a four foot tall snowman and then the next day beautiful sunshine; inspiring a day of working in the garden and bubble play (notice Chip, my mom's husband who lives next door, peeking over the fence and teasing the kids).

I'm getting excited about planting a garden again and the fact that this year I won't be pregnant which makes it almost impossible for me to work in the yard. Shane is going to build some tomato planters on wheels that we can roll out under out sunny front windows during the day and roll into the garage at night because the deer eat everything they can get to in the evenings.

On Monday Mira and Annah attended a pioneer homeschool day at Champoeg State Park and had lots of fun doing pioneer chores and learning about the first settlers in Oregon. Shane drove a car full of giggling kids back and forth to the park.

I've been sewing, knitting and working in the kitchen in my spare moments. One of our favorite grain-free and sugar free (only sweetened by dates) treats  is chocolate date balls. You just throw everything into your food processor and whip it together. Recipe follows below.

Chocolate Date Balls

25 pitted dates
1/2 cup almond butter or peanut butter
1/4 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Finely shredded unsweetened organic coconut flakes

In the food processor, process everything except the coconut.  The mixture will be thick, but make sure to run it long enough to get it well-mixed and smooth, not chunky.  Using your hands, take teaspoon-size amounts and roll lightly into balls.  Roll in coconut flakes to coat.  Store in the fridge.

This is adapted from an Everyday Paleo recipe.

lil pants, theater and spring

The past two weeks Mira has been performing in Christian Youth Theater's The Wizard of Oz in Portland and we've been blessed to have family with us both weekends. We also had a bunch of friends join us for a school day production (Mira sold 78 tickets to all the shows combined!). Both Annah and Mira also performed in their theater class showcase performances and did great. It has been a busy and fun two weeks but I'll be glad for a break from running back and forth to Oregon City.

This weekend I enjoyed some time at home while Shane took the girls to theater with his dad, Tammy and Megan. I finished knitting a sweet little baby sweater for a dear friend (photos coming this week as part of Ginny's Yarn Along) and today West and I made these fun little pants that he is modeling in the top three photos. He loved sitting on my lap and "helping" sew. I made him a pair of these reversible  Quick Change Trousers from this book, Handmade Beginnings, about a month ago and they are his best pants because they are soft, easy to pull on and reversible so I found some fabric to make him a few more pairs for spring. The pattern only goes up to 24 months but I just added 3 inches to the length and they'll fit him through summer and into the fall I hope.

Oh, spring has arrived and our street in in full bloom with cherry trees lining both sides of the street and daffodils, crocus and these little purple flowers popping up in front yards all over. I have garden plans on my mind and hope to get out to weed, rototill, spread compost and plant seeds in the next couple weeks.

cozy and crafty

Our monthly 4H meetings at our house are always the highlight of our month. We have seven homeschooled girls in our club (Silver Creek Homesteaders) and Mira, Annah and I have fun planning our meetings and getting things ready. This week it was absolutely pouring rain outside and it was a perfect afternoon to spend painting and decoupaging wooden eggs purchased from this etsy shop and making these homemade pretzels. The girls had a lot of fun and I so enjoyed being with this group of giggling and so very sweet young girls.

more snow

 

Earlier this week we woke to a little bit of snow on the ground. As soon as breakfast and chores were done the kids were in the backyard and on their backs doing snow angels.