Cotton Clay and SAHM

The other day I attempted to put Gwen's hair in bows.  This is for you Aunt Stephanie.

Today we made cotton clay (out of the concoction book again).  We have to wait for it to dry overnight to use it, but we had fun making it!  We used 3 C cotton balls, separated them into little bits, and then put 2 C water and 2/3 C flour together and put it on low heat until firmed up some.  We'll see how it does.  Gwen chose to make it the color yellow.  Here she is helping with the separating and the pouring of the water.  Oh, and attempting to smile.  I think it's so funny how she smiles that I had to include both pictures.

Here's Zeke looking on.  I think he's teething now.

Gwen is a lot of fun.  She likes putting tupperware on her head.  There are so many moments as a stay at home mom that I wouldn't trade for any other experience.  Like today when Gwen and I were goofing around on the couch and I whispered in her ear some ABCs and told her to now whisper in my ear.  You know what she chose to whisper in my ear?  "motorcycle" is what she chose.  :)  It made me laugh.  There are many moments like that throughout our day that I can't hardly describe to someone else.  Or when I'm feeding Zeke and he looks up at me and smiles and talks.  I'm so thankful I get these moments.  I never really understood how Mary "stored these things up in her heart" (that's a loose paraphrase) but now I do.  I hope I remember all of the sweet whispers and "I love yous" and messes and crazy times too.  It all comes together to make such a sweet concoction.  :)

Meal Plan

BBQ pork chops, salad, green beans, cantaloupe
cornbread and pintos, asparagus
turkey loaf, sweet potatoes, asparagus (I'm OBSESSED with asparagus at the moment... did you know there are boy asparagus and girl asparagus)
coconut flounder, salad, cous cous
stuffed peppers
some sort of soup with ham (got a big ol ham bone this weekend woo hoo)
mexican pizza using left over pintos as the refried beans... ok... it may be gross, but we're trying it., salad


breakfasts- steel cut oats with blueberries, Greek yogurt (my new thing now)

Weekend Fun

Saturday night Ben and I went out on a date.  These days, it is more difficult to get out of the house alone, but none the less, we made it.  We got decaf coffees at a coffee shop and then set off to the Powell Observatory in Louisburg, KS.  On the way out I was this bunch of clouds and had to take a picture.  By the way, Friday night we went to a friend's house for dinner and I decided to leave my camera behind... besides, we were going to a little town in the Kansas prairie right?  Well... wouldn't you know that on the way we saw a field of llamas!  We could have had a family portrait in front of a field of llamas... but no!

When we got there it was too cloudy to see anything, but we spoke with some men in the Astronomical Society of Kansas City.  They told us that there are a variety of people in the astronomy club like judges, doctors, lawyers, computer programmers and all.  They all enjoy observing.  I asked lots of questions, but one was "what is your favorite thing to look at in this telescope?"  One gentleman replied, "oh, ring nebula."  He explained to us that that was a star that basically blew up and it forms a ring that sometimes can be colored and can stay that way for 1000 years.  I said "wow... it's amazing that it has that much gas to last that long" to which Ben said, "yeah, I thought I had a lot of gas."  It got kind of quiet then.  The guys told us that astronomers have a check list of stuff they try to find and that is how they become "master" observers.  I joked and said "and if you see a UFO you become a ninja observer right?"  It got even quieter after that.  Here's a picture of a ring nebula for your enjoyment.  If I were writing a paper right now, it would be on nebulas.  They are gorgeous!

Here is the telescope there.  There are some of the astronomers that have been cataloging astroids and have one actually named "Louisburg" after the town.  Would you believe that someone built this in his garage?  That's right... he did!  I asked it he was married and they said yes, he was, and that his wife said fine, he could build the telescope in the garage, under one condition... that she was able to still park in the garage.  Don't ask me how he accomplished that!!  They had a nice presentation on the moon and I learned quite a bit.  We'll go back sometime and actually look through the telescope.

We also spent time with family on Saturday.  This is a picture of Great Grandma Georgia with Zeke.

Great Grandpa S.E. and Gwen.

Ben hooked up the bike trailer tonight and they had a great time.  Zeke and I walked along with the stroller.

Rainbow Concoction

Today we did another concoction from the concoction book.  Today it was paints using condensed milk and food coloring.  I had it on hand and so it was very easy.  It indeed made glossy paint.  The recipe said to use 1/2 C condensed milk with 6 or 7 drops of food coloring per color you want to make.  I didn't use that large of a measure of condensed milk because I wanted to make several colors.  Gwen helped me make the colors by squeezing the food coloring in and stirring.  Gwen has been fascinated lately by the reflection off of a picture frame in my bedroom.  When the sun is shining on it in such an angle it makes rainbows on the ceiling.  She loves them... so I thought I'd make the colors of the rainbow today.  We've been talking about ROY G BIV anyway.  Besides indigo turning out a lovely army green... the rest came out nicely.  Who even knows what indigo is anyway? :)

This art project is a little ambitious for a kid Gwen's age because of the sticky mess factor... ok... a lot ambitious...but still, if you are not afraid of a mess, like me, then everything will be ok.  I put a bib on her and put her paper on a cookie sheet to help with the mess.  She still decided to put her hands in the "paint".

Gwen's rainbow.

My rainbow complete with leprechaun and pot of gold.  That reminds me of when I was teaching school and this second grader ate leaves thinking she would become a leprechaun.  They didn't know which leaves she ate, so they had to send her to the doctor in case any were poisonous.  It still makes me laugh a bit.

I can't leave Zeke out of all of this.  He's about a week away from being four months old.  Look at the legs and arms in this photo.  You know, I really do not have an overabundance of milk, but buddy, it does the job!

Sweet Zekey.

Bamboo Bike and First Concoction

Ben had his bike tuned up recently and when he went to pick up his bike the guy showed him the bamboo bikes he makes.  Interesting.  Ben loves bamboo... so you can imagine what he thought of this bike.

Here we are making our first concoction from our concoction book.  Today it was Oatmeal Play Clay.  Tomorrow it is going to be shiny paint made from condensed milk and food coloring.  Gwen loves helping stir.  This is her attempt at a smile.

It was very easy to make and after she broke the biscuit cutter I had out we used it as a hat for our snowman.  She has a "snake" in her left hand.  She put the snake up to her face and made her snake "bite" her. :)

A close up of our lumpy frumpy oatmeal snowman.

Oh, and this is how it is made:

1/2 C flour

1/2 C water

1 C oatmeal

mix it all up and then put on floured surface and knead for a few minutes.  If it is sticky add more flour.  You can add food coloring to make it colored, but we didn't.  We like our oatmeal natural at this house.

Not For the Faint Of Heart

This about made me pee my pants.

Fox Update

Hi all, just wanted to update you on our neighborhood fox. I was on a walk with the kids and saw one of my neighbors. He came out of his house and asked me if I'd seen "the little visitors." I asked him what he meant and he said that he has 5 kits living under his front porch! Now I know the rest of the story. He called the wildlife people and they said just leave them alone and they'd move on. In the meantime, the man said he would share his photos with me and so hopefully you will see our fox kits soon! He said he's seen the daddy too, which I haven't seen yet.

Roll Call

Here lately I've gotten several comments from people that I didn't know read my blog. I'd love to know who my blog lurkers are out there. Could you all leave a comment and let me in on who reads this thing? If you don't have a google account, no sweat people, just make your comment anonymous, but sign your name at the end of the comment so I know who you are. ;) Cheers everyone!

Sucanat

ok... so I'd heard of this substance in books before, but I'd never tried it until today. It's called sucanat and it is a more healthy sweetener than refined white sugar. You still don't want to down a ton of this stuff... but it tastes fine. I went to the whole foods market and got a ton of steel cut oats (which I'm addicted to), some flaked coconut (to use in granola), and ground flax seed (to use in waffles and granola) and I also got the sucanat to try. All of this came out to be $13. I thought buying organic grains and such would be mega expensive...but it's not really. I wonder if I should do more of that. In this whole foods market I go to the produce section is a sight to behold. I'll take a picture of it sometime for you all who care. It is gorgeous! I don't know why but to see carrots with the root still attached makes my heart start beating faster. I just love seeing all the color of the vegetables and fruits and the stuff I've never tried. Anyway... here's what I learned about sucanat.

It is a whole cane sugar. It's made by simply crushing freshly cut sugar cane, extracting the juice and heating it in a large vat. Once the juice is reduced to a rich, dark syrup, it is hand-paddled. Hand paddling cools and dries the syrup, creating the dry porous granules we call Sucanat. Nothing is added and nothing is taken out!

Because Sucanat still contains all of the cane's natural molasses, it has a deep brown color and a distinct, natural molasses flavor that enhances many foods. It measures the same as sugar. It is an excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamin B6, potassium and chromium, which helps balance blood sugar.

Here's my recipe for whole grain waffles I made last night. Flax seeds are an excellent source of omega 3s... in case you didn't know. :)

1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat flour
3 T ground flaxseed
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated
2 C fat free milk (I used whole)
3 T canola oil
3 T unsweetened applesauce

1. In a large bowl, combine the fours, flax, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg yolks, milk, oil and applesauce; stir into dry ingredients until just moistened.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

3. cook in a waffle maker and serve with fruit topping or syrup.

I Like

"People told me having a baby is like riding a bike-- once you've done it you never forget how. They just didn't tell me the first ride is the Tour de France."

"Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."- Robert Louis Stevenson

I've got a book from the library called "The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions" by John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel and it looks like terrific fun. I'll try some of the concoctions and tell you how they go. I recommend the book and the use of libraries!!

More Gwen

Gwen makes me laugh quite a bit. Today she woke up after only an hour of nap. I told her to get back into bed and I would lay down beside her. (I hardly ever do this, but I wanted to see if it helped her get back to sleep) We were laying there quiet and I thought she'd go back to sleep and then she raises up, gets really close to my face and says "hi silly Willy." I couldn't help but laugh. When she is being silly I ask her if she is being "silly Willy" and she usually says yes. I love the way she says "silly willy." Here she is singing.

Are the Children All In?

I think as the night draws nigh
Of an old house on the hill,
Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred
Where the children played at will.
And when the night at last came down,
Hushing the merry din,
Mother would look around and ask,
"Are all the children in?"

'Tis many and many a year since then.
And the old house on the hill
No longer echoes to childish feet,
And the yard is still, so still.
But I see it all, as the shadows creep,
And though many the years have been
Since then, I can hear mother ask,
"Are all the children in?"

I wonder if when the shadows fall
On the last short, earthly day,
When we say good-bye to the world outside,
All tired with our childish play.
When we step over to Jesus' Land
Where mother so long has been,
Will we hear her ask, just as of old,
"Are all the children in?"

What We Did Before Kids

A look back to what we did before kids.  We've come a long way. :)

Odds and Ends

This morning I looked at the bananas and noticed a runt in the bunch.  I thought it was unusual.  This picture really doesn't do it justice.. it really was different looking.  Remember the mutant carrot I found before?

Gwen playing in the tuperware with green beans.  Like her hat?

She enjoyed transferring them from bowl to bowl.

Here's Zeke sitting in the high chair.  This is the face I get a lot.  Doesn't he look like Ben?  I think so.

Meal Plan

A little late, but here it is:

chicken and black bean quesadillas, cucumber slices
Italian spinach braid, cucumber slices
whole grain waffles, fruit
turkey burgers, salad
chicken stir fry, brown rice

Animal Sightings

This morning we saw our resident hawk, Lugie, looking for breakfast.  My, how he's grown!  I LOVE HIM!  He is so majestic and powerful looking.  He let me get pretty close to capture these photos.  I took Gwen out and showed her the hawk and a little rabbit that was hiding under one of our trees.  I explained why the bunny had to hide and I think Gwen understood what I was saying because she said "eat bunny."  I can not begin to tell you how excited I get about these things.

Our little fox out in the field behind our house.  I'm pretty sure it lives in the field.  I thought about going out there and looking for its den, but I don't want to scare it off.  I really enjoy seeing it.  It's beautiful!  I rushed out there and took these photos and then rushed Gwen out there to see.  

New Things

There has been so much going on this week that I just haven't found the time to blog.  I've been feeling pretty tired this week.  I've started doing some serious exercising this week with some classes at a place nearby.  It's very challenging and I'm sore.  Here are some other new things:

This is from a book I've been reading to Gwen called Lady and the Tramp.  This picture shows "Darling" (the lady) the day after her baby was born.  I've decided that if we have a third baby I'm going to look like her the day after right?  RIGHT!  Maybe I'll be "Darling" for Halloween.  That would really confuse everyone.

Gwen had her first time at Chuck E Cheese recently for a birthday party.  It was pretty intense, but she loved this Clifford ride.

This is Gwen's new room and bed.  I guess she's been in this new set up for two weeks now.  One night when I went to choir practice I came home and Ben told me he had a surprise.  The surprise was that Gwen was in the big girl bed asleep.  She now things she is big.  She refuses to eat in the high chair anymore.  It must be the green booster seat.

Zeke is now sleeping in the crib in the nursery.  Last night he slept from 9pm to 5:30am!  I got up several times just to go and check on him.  I couldn't believe he didn't wake up.  What a different kid he is from Gwen.  In this picture he just got through crying so his face is red...but I think it's adorable, so I'm putting it in here anyway.  He is just melt your heart cute if you ask me.

Speaking of cute, this is Gwen talking and singing to me today.  What a cutie.

Little Funnies

I am doing a garage sale this weekend and I think I must be nuts.  My group of houses has a garage sale weekend once a year and this year I thought I had some stuff to sell.  This morning I was out there with Gwen and Zeke and loads of people.  Breastfeeding while making change I have found is not a socially acceptable practice.  Neither is changing a diaper while running after a toddler running toward the street because she hears an airplane.
Here's something funny that happened today.  My neighbor combined her stuff with mine to sell.  She had some of those pots with the lid that has the holes to drain water out of when you get your stuff cooked.  A lady asked me what those holes were for... for letting the steam out?  I told her it was a colander to drain the water and she said, "well, I'm impressed that someone your age would know what a colander is!"
Another thing is that my neighbor brought over more things tonight to sell and one of the items was a DVD of Kenny Rogers.  I watched 15 minutes of it tonight and it was pretty bad, but it inspired me to show you a video of Kenny.

Fox!

We saw a fox in our backyard this morning!  It is a red fox.  I ran to get my camera so these shots aren't the best in the world, but there you have it.  I was wondering how it got in and then I was wondering how it would get out.  It jumped the fence.  Pretty agile I'd say.

Garden Granola

It's garden planning time again.  I can't wait to get started.  My strawberry plants have come back!  These are the strawberry plants off of just one strawberry plant from last year.  Gwen enjoyed seeing worms of all sizes yesterday and discovering that flowers turn into strawberries.

This is Gwen overlooking our garden.  She found a bamboo stick on the ground and told me "big stick." :)

In my attempt to cleanse my pantry I have been making granola.  It is delicious!  I've tried several recipes...but I tried this one last night and loved it.  I've heard you can substitute applesauce for the oil or mashed up bananas with a bit of water.  Gotta try that one... haven't yet.  Do any of you make granola?  Got a recipe?

8C oats
1 sm pkg coconut (didn't have it, so didn't put it in)
1 1/2 C brown sugar, honey- whatever sweetener you use.  I used 1 C brown sugar, 1/2 C honey
1 C water
3/4 C oil or applesauce
1 T cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp extract of some sort (I put vanilla)
2 C stuff- nuts, raisins, cut up dried apricots, golden raisins (why did I have two boxes of these in my pantry??)
325 degrees, mix ingredients except oats and stuff and coconut and put on stove to boil.  Turn down heat and let simmer for 5 min.  Pour in oats and coat well.  Put on cookie sheets or jelly roll pans.  Cook for 10 minutes at a time and stir.  I cook mine for 10 min, stir and put in nuts, 10 min, stir, and then 10 minutes.  The granola will harden when it cools.  Put on top all the other stuff like raisins once it's cooled.

I find that it is wonderful on yogurt or as a breakfast cereal.  Don't overdo it, this stuff is filling.  Oh, and I put wheat germ on mine too just for kicks.

Hope For Today

I heard a quote today that really made me think.
"Anything that makes you need God, that is a blessing."  I want to savor each moment I have with my family.  I don't want to view life in the future... I want to appreciate the moment for the moment's sake.  Does that make any sense?

As a parent now of a toddler I'm learning so much about God.  I mean, it's one thing to talk about obedience, but when you are teaching someone to be obedient... well... you learn it too all over again.  How many times has God told me to do something and I kind of dawdle around like I didn't hear Him?  How many times have I made a mess and thrown a fit about cleaning it up or just living with the natural consequences of that action?  Very humbling...

So, all that to say that I'm afraid to get out of the house with my two.  I am afraid that I will lose control over Gwen or she will run off from me or be taken or some such.  I just fret over it really...but I decided to just get out anyway today and see if I could gain more confidence.  I know... it's illogical.  I mean, I've only got two kids and if Gwen has a fit, well, that's ok too.... we'll just go home.  So, we went to the mall and bought daddy something he needed and then went and looked at the carousel and Gwen ran around and played in the play area.  No meltdowns, even when we left.  I tried to keep everything upbeat and I was armed with pretzels and milk.  She took one look at that carousel and laughed and said "fun!"  Zeke slept through most of it and was an angel when he woke up.  I know it won't be like that every time, but hurray!

Meal Plan

It's spring cleaning time here at the Barreth house and we are doing that also in the pantry.  I've devised a plan to use "what is in our hands" instead of going and buying more.  Here's what I came up with.  This should be enough to get us by for 2 weeks approximately with only the trip to the store to get fresh items like milk and some veggies and fruit.  We were blessed this weekend by my mother-in-law with a large ham, so I'm going to use it and then freeze some of it for later.

homemade pizza
potato soup with bacon
turkey tenderloin, vegetables
ham and lentil soup
BBQ chicken, peas and salad
pinto beans, cornbread
orange roughy, veggies, dinner rolls
chicken stir fry, wild/brown rice mix, salad
Senegalese peanut soup

Easter 2010

Here are some pictures of the kids today.

Gwen attempting to smile.























Gwen in the swing really smiling.



















My Zekey boy.  Look at those arm rolls!  I call him my cuddley buddely.

Gwen in the swing again.

Gwen and a daffodil

















Gwen in the swing.
















Gwen.

Gwen holding up a pink bunny her Grandma Pam gave her.

You know my sense of humor.  This was on the sleeve of Zeke's shirt today.  It's a pig on a tractor waving his  straw hat.  I just thought it was unusual.