The Zoo

Today we went to the zoo with Paw Paw Barreth.  Here we are at the sea lion show.  We made it just in time.  Ben is holding Gwen and the sea lion got pretty close.  They are beautiful animals and Gwen was entranced.

Gwen having some Paw Paw time.

I thought she would be super excited to see an elephant for the first time in her life, but she just stared at it.

What she DID think was incredible were the meerkats.  This has to be my favorite picture of the day.

Here's Zeke with daddy.  Ben is such a great daddy.

A Chimp.

Gwen got to ride on Paw Paw's shoulders.  She was happy about it.

A Giraffe.  Such a stunning animal... so majestic.  I said "thank you" to God when I saw it.

Ben and Gwen getting a close up of a bird.

Gwen feeding a deer.  All in all a good day.  Gwen and Zeke both fell asleep on the way home.

Zeke and The Day

Today was a pretty eventful day.  Ben's dad is visiting and we've had lots of funny moments like when we went to the dollar store and got this huge balloon in the shape of a motorcycle for a little boy's party on Saturday we've been invited to.  I was at Hobby Lobby with Ben and Zeke and Paw Paw and Gwen in the car.  Paw Paw went into the back to get a stuffed sheep we had bought and out came the motorcycle filled with helium.  I didn't see it, but I sure laughed at the thought of Paw Paw running across the parking lot chasing after the floating motorcycle!

One of our neighbors is having a birthday party for their six year old son tonight.  This is the pirate ship they set up for their little boy.  I am constantly amazed at the parents in Johnson County.  We are the type that we'd turn on a sprinkler and say "go and play" for their birthday. :)

Today Ben and Ray went to watch a movie and I was home with the kids for dinner time.  I got Gwen some food and then I went to feed Zeke in the living room.  Mistake number 1- leaving Gwen alone eating pasta in the kitchen.  Mistake number 2- leaving a full glass of water on the table with Gwen in the kitchen alone.  I didn't realize these mistakes until I was well into feeding Zeke and I heard Gwen "talking" into the cup of water.  Then I heard water sloshing and I just sighed and thought... well... what can I do about it now?  So I finished with Zeke and then went into the kitchen to see the damage.  She turned over the water and had pasta in her hair and face and all over her jacket that she happened to be wearing.  (yes, I know.. mistake number 3- me not putting a bib on her and letting her eat in a jacket)  She was happy though and standing there watching the birds take baths in the rain water.

Zeke is now 4 months and had his doctor's appointment today.  He weighed in at 15 lbs, 10 oz which is in the 63rd percentile and was 25 inches long which is the 51st percentile.  He's a big and healthy boy and I'm so grateful to God.  He is quiet and gentle and beautiful.  I have a song for him about being my little guy.  I made up a song for Gwen too and her's was about her having a pretty face.

GORGEOUS

Today at the doctor's office I was looking through their stickers in order to choose one to take home for Gwen.  I chose two of their more unusual choices that made me chuckle.  Here's a toaster on wheels with a reflection of the dessert in the toaster which I LOVED. :)

Here's an orangutan sticker with the actual word "orangutan" at the top.   

Breakfast Cookies

Made these yesterday to give to a neighbor.  I kept some too and loved them.

2 sticks butter, melted (I know that's a lot, but it makes a LOT of dough)
3/4 C honey (I didn't have that much honey.. so use sucanat)
2 eggs
1 t salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1/2 C buttermilk
2 C whole wheat flour
2 C whole rolled oats
1 C raisins or choc. chips (I used raisins)

Mix everything 350 for 15-20 min.

*You can soak these grains so they digest better (I didn't).  Melt and cool butter, stir together flour, oats, butter and buttermilk.  Add a bit more buttermilk than the 1/2 C so all grains are moistened.  Cover and let soak overnight.  Stir in remaining ingredients in the morning and bake as directed.

My New Fav

Brownie Pudding

Recently I took this dessert to a neighbor's house for a dinner.  Boy, was it good and rich.  A very small amount satisfies.  Sorry, no picture, but this one I will make again sometime.  This resembles a lava cake.

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing the dish
4 large eggs, at room temp.
2 C sugar or sucanat
3/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or about 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325.  Lightly butter a 2 quart oval baking dish.  Melt the 2 sticks of butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electic mixer (or bowl with hand held mixer like I used) fitted with paddle attachment, combine the eggs and sugar.  Beat together on medium-high speed until thick and light yellow in color.  Meanwhile, combine the flour and cocoa powder in a medium bowl and whisk together until blended.

When the eggs and sugar are finished mixing, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixing bowl.  Add the flour-cocoa powder mixture to the bowl as well.  Mix on low speed just until combined.  With the mixer still on low, slowly pour the melted butter and mix again just until combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Place the baking dish in a larger baking pan.  Add very hot tap water to the outer baking pan to create a water bath, coming halfway up the side of the baking dish.  Bake for 60 min.  The center will appear very under-baked, that is the way the dessert should be.  Allow to cool slightly before serving with ice cream.  (or if you don't have, we had it with a little whipped cream)

Concoctions Gone Wrong

Well, the cotton clay concoction was a bust.  It never dried and ended up in the trash can.  :(  Today we tried making gems with rock salt and glue and food coloring.  It didn't turn out at all like it said in the book!  We were so excited to have emeralds, but alas, this is what turned out.

She didn't mind.

We tried making a necklace.  Can anyone say MESS??

We resorted to the old standby... playdough.  We served up some mighty tasty playdough pizza today.  Gwen's had filet mignon on it. :)

Makes Me Laugh

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.