Cake, Silks & Pi(es)

March 17, 2024March 19, 2024Leave a comment

I feel like it was a really productive week, which is always nice. My little routine of writing these goals vs. outcomes weekly posts is helping me stay on-track with what I want to accomplish each week. I’m really glad I’ve reinstituted these. Not only are they keeping me focused, but I really enjoy writing them and re-reading them, like a journal. I rarely re-read my handwritten journals, so I don’t learn as much from my writing in those. Blog posts can actually be searched by keyword, for cryin’ out loud. Wonderful.

Top priorities this last week:

Michael’s birthday
Garden
WREF Scholarship application
Prom dresses
Resurrecting music practice time

Celebrating

Michael’s birthday went well, there was an adorable “Among Us wedding cake” made by Renaissance, and each of the kids remembered to get him a gift this year. We did not have steak and potatoes for dinner, as I predicted; he requested fajitas.
The potentially brewing project died a sure death this past week. I’m bummed because it would have been a cool thing to do, but I’m also relieved because it was going to take a lot of time and effort to pull off. Many lessons were learned from this experience that I can apply in the future when such a situation inevitably pops up again.

Gardening

Trellises are in my house, as are some other gardening items.
All seeds needed through the month of April have been secured.
Rhubarb is still small.
I did sow the cabbages, some alyssum, but nothing else.
My sweet peas are just barely starting to sprout! You really have to look for them, but tiny little tendrils are pushing out of the soil!

Community

Renaissance did indeed submit her application for the WREF scholarship! Oh gosh, the arrhythmias…she submitted it yesterday at 2:15pm or so, and the pop-up that came up to confirm submission stated that it was due by 4pm that day. We had planned to work on it that evening, but something came up and we moved the time to earlier, THANK GOODNESS.
Band Parent meeting went well and many things have been scheduled for this last push of the school year. I still have a few office-y things to do for that.

Creativity

At Home:
- Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt: Sneak peek video was posted on Friday on Instagram and I’m aware that my videography skills/software need an upgrade. I had planned to finish piecing the top on Saturday and even cleared my whole schedule for it, but some of my children decided to mutiny against their Saturday chores and much time was lost on this quilt because it went towards dialoguing and disciplining. I’m still confused as to why that day went so sideways. As it stands, I’m about 2/3 of the way done with assembling the blocks.
- Prom Dresses: The fabric for Ren’s dress has arrived and I am so in love with it. It’s GORGEOUS. The contrast fabric isn’t as flowy as I would have liked, but we’ll just have to make do because it was the only kind of silk they had that came in the color we wanted. FYI, Shantung silk is not flowy. Tell your friends.

Van Crafting Sessions™: Designing wedding shawls: Newsflash: I’ve not done this before and I’m not good at it. Yet. (#growthmindset) Time was spent wrapping my head around how to actually do this.
Resurrecting music practice sessions: Did not happen because I’ve had them scheduled for the evenings, but now that it’s light outside again we’re actually outside during that time as a family. I’ll need to figure out a different time of day for this.

It was a really, really busy week with a concert on Thursday, which was also Pi Day, so Emily made three pies and because we had three pies chilling at our house I invited Ren’s band friends over after the concert and we all ate pie until 11:15pm. Ha ha. I’m generally an introvert who really appreciates a solid sleep schedule and bedtime, but sometimes you just gotta spend some time with friends. It was a good choice, despite how tired it made me the next day.

I Forgot about the Prom Dresses

March 12, 2024March 19, 2024Leave a comment

I was so proud of myself last week for how well I had cleared my schedule so things could be manageable, and then over the course of one day so many projects came to rest on my plate. At least they’re all projects I’m excited about!

Happy Daylight Savings Time to those of you who are mandated to go through it. I’m feeling it! Hopefully the sluggishness wears off quickly.

Cooking:

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Orange Chicken, Stir Fry veggies, Rice
Tuesday: CP Soup
Wednesday: Taco Pasta
Thursday: CP something, pie for Pi Day
Friday: Michael’s birthday dinner, which he has not decided upon yet. I’m going to guess it’ll be steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad and herbed rye rolls.
Saturday: Pasta/Emily’s choice
Sunday: CP Corned Beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage, maybe some Irish soda bread

Clothing:

Maybe this will be the week that I finally conquer the folding pile.
Keep thinking about and making plans for Easter, spring and Rachel’s travel outfits.
Materials and supplies are going to begin arriving for making prom dresses for Renaissance and Rachel.

Cleaning:

I don’t have a definitive plan set, which I would like to create. Basic upkeep for the next few weeks.

Caring:

I’m really struggling to remember what I’d like to do here. I blame the sleep deprivation from Daylight Savings Time. Um, I need to care for my poor sleep-deprived brain by adjusting my sleeping ASAP. I’ve learned over the decades that sleep is #1. You mess with the sleep, you mess with everything.

Creativity:

At Home:
- Prom dress prep—Dates were announced last week and I realized I had no plan whatsoever for making their dresses. We strategized over the weekend, and I think it’s doable. Ohhhh, the girls have picked some lovely designs and fabric. I’m really excited about these dresses!! Hopefully my “adventurous beginner/beginning intermediate” garment construction skills are up for the task…eek!
- Sewing on the Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt—Sneak peek this Friday!
Van Crafting Sessions™: Planning out personalized wedding shawls because I’m a person who gets things done years ahead of time

Gardening:

Peas, trellises, etc.
Seed check
Rhubarb watching
Plant delphinium
Use up the herb jungle
Direct sow alyssum, cabbage, pansies, poppies, viola

Celebrating:

Michael’s birthday is this week! I hounded the kids to get him gifts, so that’s an improvement over last year. Problem is, I gave them all my ideas for gifts and now I don’t have any other ideas and no gift to him from myself. Sigh.
After a quick text conversation with my people last week, I don’t think we’re going to be doing anything for Easter, but I’ll follow-up this week just to make sure.
The potentially brewing project I mentioned at the end of last week is dying a slow death. I thought it was dead for sure, but a spark of life was breathed into at the last second. I will follow-up today to find out what is going on.

Community:

I am nagging Renaissance about the WREF scholarship that’s due on March 17th. I do not get the feeling that it’s accomplishing anything.
Band Parent meeting this week—Many of my concerns from last week are resolving.
I was sustained in a new calling for church on Sunday: Ward Music Coordinator. It basically just means I make sure we have music during sacrament meeting. I pick the hymns, make sure the music makers know what the hymns are, and I set up and support the special musical numbers. We have Stake Conference this week, so no pressure for me this week. If I went ahead and taskified this calling, it would make my life a whole lot easier over the next few months as I settle into it. I should also resurrect my own music practice times since I know that I will inevitably have to pinch hit some musical numbers on the fly when scheduled performers cancel at the last minute.

Top priorities this week, aside from sleep health:

Michael’s birthday
Garden
WREF Scholarship application
Prom dresses
Resurrecting music practice time

Happy Homemaker Monday: July 10-16, 2023

July 10, 2023July 9, 20238 Comments

(Note: I wrote this yesterday [Sunday] because my weekdays are super busy and I’ve no time for blogging on Monday mornings.)

I came across the Happy Homemaker Monday link-up last autumn and earmarked it as something I wanted to do once I got done with grad school because I’m still a homemaker at heart who loves to make my home comfy and beautiful. I love reading through Sandra’s thoughts and her enthusiasm for taking care of her home and family, and it’s hard to find blogs like that these days. So here’s my first, of hopefully many, Happy Homemaker Monday posts:

The Weather:

We have some lovely summers here in the Pacific Northwest, and we are in the middle of some great weather right now. It was pretty warm last week, so this little bit of cooling is welcome. It will make our afternoon activities much more bearable.

As I Look Outside My Window:

We are “allowing” the garden “to lie fallow” this year because I was too busy with school to get out into it during the spring, but it’s making me a little squirrelly to see it be so fraggly. The kids have their weeding chores and the weeds are slowing being eradicated, so that’s good. I just have to keep telling myself that this is a not gardening year. ((shudder))
I did go buy some basil plants and a tomato plant because it’s just not summer if there’s not basil and tomatoes in my garden. I now visit them every evening after Michael and I get back from our after dinner walk. Makes me happy.
I missed the window for harvesting my lavender. I was going to try my hand at making lavender wands this year, but alas. Oh well, it’s still very pretty to look at.
I love our super shaded front porch so much. The kids and I have been spending a lot of time out there eating ice cream, drinking drinks, working on hand projects…it’s a great little spot that doesn’t get sunbaked and is hidden from the view of people walking by on the street.

Right Now I Am:

Waiting for my Lime Curd Bars with Coconut Crust to cool on the counter so I can bring them to church for our “Linger Longer” after meetings are done. Michael is giving one of the talks in sacrament meeting today, too, so I’m thinking about ways to make it better.

Thinking & Pondering:

Renaissance’s birthday party
How to explain/teach goal-setting to teenagers
I’d like to throw a Mother/Daughter Halloween tea this autumn
How in the world will I organize Rachel’s bedroom after I gut it this week?
Do I just quilt the Patriotic baby quilt on my regular machine, or do I go forward with cleaning off my cutting table to make way for the Big Boy sewing machine with the super throat that I bought last summer? I think a cutting table clean-off would require gutting the craft room, and I can’t gut more than one room at a time or my house will burst into flames and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The kids’ bedrooms are the priority right now, so I think I have to quilt on my regular machine, which I’m not very excited about.

Listening to:

My main man, Claude Debussy, as I try to keep the energy chill in the house on this beautiful summer morning.

How Am I Feeling:

Last week was a huge disruption to my routine, as most holidays are, and I still feel a little off-kilter. Sleep hasn’t been great for various reasons. I’m hoping this all evens out in the upcoming week. I’m excited about the improvements I’m making in the house. I wish it wasn’t such hard work, but it is definitely worth it.

On the Breakfast Plate:

I used to be much cooler, breakfast-wise. Now it’s just a protein bar, pills, and caffeinated water before yoga, followed by a protein shake after yoga. Renaissance makes me an egg sandwich on the mornings that we work out together.

On the Lunch Plate:

I still hate lunch. Dumb lunch, interrupting my work flow. However, I’ve been grilling up a few chicken breasts every other day so the kids can add chicken to whatever they’re eating and up their protein intake. I’ve been noticing that they are ingesting very carb-heavy meals and I’m trying to curb that tendency.

On the Dinner Plate:

(Sunday) Michael will make tacos tonight!

What I’m Wearing:

My favorite pink gingham shirtwaist dress, which I wear to death and will eventually need to reverse engineer to recreate a million more.

On My Reading Pile:

Banners, Buntings, Garlands & Pennants, by Kathy Sheldon & Amanda Carestio
The Good Wife of Bath, by Karen Brooks
(Dead) Kindle: The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, by Daniel Coyle
A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy I. Lin

On My TV This Week:

Hopefully nothing; I like to keep my television watching to bad weather days. I did binge-watch some Clarkson’s Farm last week when I wasn’t feeling well.

On the Menu:

I meal plan on Saturday mornings, so my plan started a couple of days ago:

Saturday: Italian Sloppy Joes
Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Spaghetti, Green Beans, Caesar Salad, French Bread
Tuesday: North Carolina Pulled Pork (new recipe!), Corn on the cob, Broccoli Slaw
Wednesday: Steamed Buns, Stir Fry Veggies, Marinated Cucumbers, Rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Cedar Plank Salmon, Baby Potatoes, Caesar Salad, Rolls

Looking Around the House:

We’re in the midst of decluttering the kids’ bedrooms. I’m pretty much finished with Emily’s and Nathaniel’s room, but some of their stuff is randomly strewn about the house. Everything’s messy after a year of grad school, but this summer is the antidote to that messiness and we’ll crawl out from underneath the weight of the clutter by the time school starts back up.

To-Do List This Week, beyond the obvious laundry and like:

Start gutting and deep cleaning Rachel’s room. Oh, this is going to be a BIG job.
Move forward with plans for Renaissance’s birthday party
Go to the DOL and renew Renaissance’s driver’s permit
Driving practice sessions for both Renaissance and Rachel
Maybe plant some seeds in the garden for autumn crops?
Get graduation cards and thank you cards sent out

Devotional:

I’m experimenting with a new spiritual practice of choosing a word each week and pondering on what that word means to me, character-wise and in practical application. This week’s word is “energy.” I’ll report on what I came up with next week.

This last week’s word was “sunshine,” and I didn’t spend a lot of time with it because I was feeling crummy. But I do love that it’s a word that describes something tangible and also can be applied as a positive adjective.

What does it mean to me to embrace sunshine in my life?

Physically: Getting as much of it as I can during these summer months and being oh-so-grateful for it because I know I’ll miss it dearly come January, February, and March. Being careful with it because too much of a good thing can be very harmful indeed.
Emotionally: Making the choice to look on the bright side of things. The last few years have been an interesting experiment of watching people become what they fixate upon. I am more and more convinced that focusing on the negative just breeds more negativity in one’s life. You don’t have to scream about all the bad things in the world all the time in order to change them. Better to stay calm, be cheerful and cordial, strive to make things beautiful and lovely, AND work the proper channels to fix what’s wrong. Screaming doesn’t help things, but writing letters, voting, and contributing funds to important causes does. Better to do those things quietly and live your daily life gracefully so you can be a bringer of sunshine to yourself and those around you, rather than making people dread interacting with you and avoiding the causes you’re passionate about because you’ve soured them towards them with your ranting and seething. I accomplish much more positive change when I’m calm, collected, and cheerful, and our home is such a lovely sanctuary from the stress of the world when Mama is content. My husband and children deserve a safe place to land each evening.

Well, that’s everything. What a delightful exercise in noticing what’s going on around me and contemplating my actions for the upcoming week. I enjoyed writing this post! I wish you all a beautiful and productive week ahead!

Why, Hello, Week of Christmas

December 20, 2021December 20, 2021Leave a comment

Good morning, lovelies! How was your week last week? I’m so glad I took a little break from the online world, it was definitely needed to get things somewhat put back together ’round these parts.

Is it me or does it seem like the blogging community is waking up a bit these days? It seems like no one has blogged in years, and suddenly there’s all of these “coming out of hibernation” posts popping up and oh my goodness, it makes me so happy! My heart loves blogging, first and foremost. Instagram is great and all, but reading through people’s thoughts and decision processes, accompanied by good photography…that is my jam. Give me thought-out content that’s worth my time, not some silly little reel stitched together in fifteen seconds.

My crafty thoughts for this week:

I’m really hoping to get the Patchwork Forest quilt done.
I don’t think Sew Many Stars will get finished this year, and that’s OK.
The “Fair Isle” knitting project won’t get even get started this year.
“Stripes” and “Pattern I Don’t Like” are more than halfway done each; I think I can only finish one before Christmas, and I’m paralyzed regarding which one to pick.
I am going to bake some Christmas cookies this year, darn it. I had a day set aside last week, but the Universe really conspired against it happening, and by the time I could finally embark upon said baking, I was way too tired to even start. I do have a whole day set aside this week to bake with the kids, though…fingers crossed!
I had THE BEST IDEA while I was laying around in my sick bed this month, and I’m excited to share it with you later this week!

I hope you have a fantastic week, friends. Opt for the more restful options and just enjoy this season without taking on the things that stress you out. You’re amazing and strong, and I hope you find some beautiful crafty time to fill your soul.

Meal Planning and Sharing Cooking Responsibilities with Teenagers

November 10, 2021November 8, 2021Leave a comment

I’ve noticed an uptick in views on my two autumn meal planning posts in the past couple of weeks, and I thought I’d take a moment to write about how we’re doing dinner in our home these days with four relatively kitchen-ready kids. Quarantine really had the kids baking and cooking a lot out of sheer boredom, and I’ve had a lot of back and foot pain for the past year, so we’ve morphed into a more “all hands on deck” meal preparation group.

As summer was beginning this year, I put in three zucchini plants in the garden because our one zucchini plant in 2020 failed and I didn’t want to run that risk again. I then decided to go through all my cookbooks and find every zucchini recipe I could so that I’d have an arsenal of ideas for dealing with the very likely avalanche of zucchini we’d encounter. Whilst perusing zucchini recipes, I noticed a lot of fantastic vegetable recipes that I’d always wanted to try every summer but had never gotten around to preparing, so I decided to make a giant master list of summery recipes in my bullet journal. I tried to choose as many recipes from this master list over the summer, and the kids got caught up in the novelty of it and started helping me prepare dishes. By the end of the summer, we often had four different people working in the kitchen at once and could get a full, vegetables-included dinner on the table in about forty minutes.

Another recently-added consideration is that I’ve developed a soy allergy, which means I can eat very little processed foods anymore. Soy is in freakin’ EVERYTHING, people, UGH! So we’ve had to start making a lot of stuff from scratch, which means more cooking and time in the kitchen.

I decided to invest in a 24″x36″ whiteboard at the beginning of autumn and drew in gridlines. With school and after school activities returning to something resembling normal, I knew I was going to become very busy very quickly and that we were going to need a dinner command center that the kids could consult if I wasn’t home when it was time to start cooking dinner.

I went through my cookbooks again, this time for autumny recipe goodness, and now I spend a little time each Saturday morning while Michael and I are catching up and planning out the next week to write down each day’s activities in the top boxes on the meal plan board, and then I use my autumn recipe master list to plug in some dishes in black ink. (Or, for busy weeks, we just have easy-to-make foods, obviously.) As the kids wake up, they come along and write a star in their personal color next to the dishes they’re going to make, keeping in mind what they’re going to be up to that particular day in regards to music lessons and the like. (Don’t volunteer to make anything if you’re not even going to be home at dinner!) It’s been a godsend with my foot surgery recovery…very little standing in the kitchen for me anymore.

^{Last week’s meal plan, with activities blurred out because it’s a bad idea to post your kids’ schedules on that internet.}

It’s interesting to read through the many iterations of meal planning that I’ve done over the years. It just goes to show that we’re always adapting to new circumstances and abilities, and if it works for you in that moment, then it’s the right choice. I used to get critical of myself for not doing things the way I saw other adults doing things in their homes, and it’s only been recently that I’ve really figured out that it’s ok to change the way you do things and it’s ok to not take another person’s advice if you have a pretty solid expectation it will not work for you. You do you, and I’ll do me. But share what you’re doing so I can steal the ideas that will help me out, and I’ll keep sharing what I’m doing in case you want to steal some of my ideas, too.

Happy eating!

Wednesday, Week #1 of Covid-19 School Closure

March 18, 2020Leave a comment

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The kids gathered around the dining room table for their first formal day of “online learning” this morning. The girls were left to their own devices (and I only had to reprimand one of them during the course of the day for goofing off before they were done with their schoolwork) and I had Nathaniel work on his stuff in my craft room so I could keep an eye on him, which was needed a few times.

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00100sportrait_00100_burst20200318095105345_cover Because I was waiting to see if I’d get a package from Jaftex today, I didn’t want to start cutting out a dress or anything big, so I whipped up a couple of hair scarves from a pattern I bought when I went to Sew Expo a couple of weeks ago. (And I have no idea why my hair looks so short in that photo, but it’s definitely making me think that a chop-off would look super cute!)

The kids were all pretty much done with their work by the time the “school bus lunch” alarm went off at 10:35am. Our district is making sure all the kids eat during this break by delivering breakfasts and lunches via the bus routes, so we headed over to the bus stop and the kids were happy to say hi to their bus driver when she came ’round.

While we were waiting for the lunches to arrive, the FedEx truck rolled on up to my house and I had to wait a whole ten minutes before the bus came and I was able to retrieve my package from the front porch! The agony!

Because, yep, that package contained fabric. Adorable farm animal fabric that will work spectacularly well for a baby gift for a friend and her impending arrival:

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So. cute. I love those little sheep, and that green print that just begs for some fussy cutting. I think I’ve settled on a pattern, which won’t be as involved as I would like; but, I wasn’t planning on making a quilt in the next six weeks, so it’s got to be a bit of a quick sew so I can still fit in all my spring clothing sewing. Whew! Busy hands leave little time for wandering thoughts, so I’m thankful for the plethora of projects at this anxiety-provoking time! It’s going to be a cute little quilt. Plus, this collection–“Best Friends Farm”–has both a quilt panel and a soft book panel to sew up, too. Lots of cute little projects to share with you over the next little while!

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Well, good night, dear readers. I hope this is a peaceful time for you; a time to reconnect with family and a time to spend in a little bit of self-reflection.

And if it can’t be that, then I wish you wonderful success with whatever it is you choose to use to diffuse your stress. Lucky me, I’ve got a kid who stress bakes, and she made some absolutely delicious soft pretzels this afternoon. I wish you the kind of happiness that comes from eating a soft pretzel on a sunny day with your family. Whatever that is for you, I hope it’s happening. Stay healthy and safe!

Autumn Meal Planning

August 22, 2015September 6, 20151 Comment

The kids are back in school, the house is quiet enough to allow for thinking again, and the mornings are getting a little cooler. This means that it’s time to think about food. I don’t know what it is about feeling the weather start to change, but some impulse just gets switched on in me to start reorganizing my pantry and kitchen cupboards…and then I start to think about soups, and roasts, and spices…and then I can’t stop myself from poring over my cookbooks.

And then the Autumn Dinner & Breakfast Menus happen. Mmmm, apples, pumpkins, and cinnamon.

I was talking about my method of meal planning with a friend a few days ago and she demanded that I share it once I got it typed up, so here it is…enjoy!

So, yes, a month’s worth of meals…and then I repeat it TWICE so that it’s actually three months’ worth of meals. Favorite foods go into the “Week #1” slot because a quarter is actually 13 weeks long, so that week gets four times at bat. I like my autumn meal plan to end with the week of Thanksgiving, so that I can start my winter meal plan with the Christmas season, so that means this year I’ll morph into my autumn cooking on Monday, August 31st.

Mondays and Tuesdays are all crock pot meals because we’re busy after school or have something happening close to dinner time.

Wednesdays are “easy to make” or “uses leftovers” because I have church responsibilities on some Wednesdays, so I need extra time for last minute prep and the like for that.

Thursdays are my “I have time to cook awesome food” days. (I really like good food.) I try to choose one weekday each quarter that I’m going to zealously protect from outside interference, and I really like it to be Thursday. Then I’m home all day for the most part, I have time for more involved recipes, I do a lot of my crafting, AND Thursday is the night before all the week’s homework is due, so the kids need to be home for that. No outside activities on Thursday, and our tummies are full with good food so we can crank out a solid homework session after dinner together. (I also try to have a dessert on-hand as well…it works well as a carrot for tough homework sessions, or as a treat for us all not killing each other over math homework.)

Friday is Date Night, either at home or out on the town, so Michael and I eat grown-up restaurant food and the kids get to have the food they love that Michael and I don’t want to eat.

I love alliteration, so Saturday is “Soup, Salad, or Sandwich” dinner day. I usually make some sort of soup stock on Saturday morning from all the peelings and ends of vegetables I’ve used in the past week (I keep them in a container in the fridge), so soup is a natural next step for dinner.

Sundays are “Mexican Sundays,” which is something we started while we were in Australia and couldn’t find any decent Mexican food. It was such a huge hit that we’ve kept it up since we’ve returned, even though I’m getting a little sick of it. The kids love it, so it keeps being a thing.

And I’m trying something new this autumn by having a breakfast menu too:

I don’t have a breakfast listed for the fourth Saturday, mostly because I can’t think up another potato-based breakfast, but also because I’ve decided that a “free day” might work nicely.

I do have themes for each day, which has worked well enough in past years, but I find that I’m in a bit of a rut with breakfast now, and there’s always some really great recipes that I just don’t think of at 6:30 in the morning, or while I’m making up my shopping list, so this menu plan will help me realize my dream of pumpkin waffles and apple cinnamon everything in the mornings.

Mondays: Oatmeal. I don’t know why, that’s just how it’s always been in our house. The kids don’t like it much anymore, so I’m trying some new flavors and combinations in the hope that they’ll re-convert. I try to serve some sort of yogurt or nut alongside for extra protein.

Tuesdays: Eggs

Wednesdays: WAFFLES. I’m obsessed. (And, hello, alliteration!) We usually have some bacon with them, too.

Thursdays: Omelettes

Fridays: Pancakes. And sausage links.

Saturdays: Potatoes. Michael loves potatoes for breakfast, and I don’t, so this is my special “I love you/Happy Getting to Stay at Home Today” gift to him on Saturdays.

Sundays: Muffins or quick breads. I love muffins and quick breads, but I’m too busy during the week to make them, and they’re not the most filling, but I do have time on Saturdays to bake and then they’re a lifesaver as we’re getting ready for church in the morning.

AND, because I always get to the end of autumn and realize that, once again, I did not make that scrumptious-looking Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust, I’ve made up a treat plan, too:

I’m pretty excited about the pumpkin cheesecake and the crème brûlée–I have wanted an excuse to buy ramekins and a kitchen torch for so long!

It’s a lot, I know. And usually by this point in the conversation people ask me why I do this, and the answer is super simple: So I have more time to craft. And I get to eat good food. I’ve found that the more organized I am in regards to the daily things–food, clothes, cleaning–the more time it frees up for the creative things, which are some of the more exciting parts of my life. I don’t see the need to re-think dinner every day, and I’d rather use that brain power for creativity. My kids are better behaved when they’re well-fed, I feel and think better, and we’re a much happier family.

BUT…I’ve also learned to be very realistic with myself in regards to meal planning. There are (usually, about four) back-up meals in the freezer for days when everything falls apart (read: sick kids, and I’ve been washing sheets continually since 3am). And if I notice that a day in the week ahead is all sorts of busy, like those freak show days that end up having dentist appointments and parent-teacher conferences together, I schedule us to hit a drive-thru because it’s stupid to make things harder on an already difficult day. Then I don’t buy the food for that meal at the grocery store that week because we’re not going to use it. Good adulting takes a lot of work, but also a lot of honesty with ourselves, and the ability to cut ourselves a little slack when things get a touch crazy.

So that’s it for now. I do still have to come up with sides and the weekly grocery lists. (All my grocery lists DONE for the next three months! Woo hoo!) I’ll work on those over the next week when I have spare moments. Food, done.

Appreciating the Teachers

December 10, 2014February 1, 2015Leave a comment

The girls’ last day of school happens today, so I put together some gifts for their teachers and a couple of other staff members at their school. I trolled Pinterest for inexpensive gift ideas that were easy to assemble because I don’t have access to my gift wrap vault, which is a little sad-making.

Undaunted, I pressed forward and decided upon dressing up regular ol’ paper bags with some paper Christmas doilies, which was ridiculously easy. The girls were so excited to take “their” gifts to school–there was a little bit of bickering about who would carry the box containing all the bags as they headed out to catch the bus.

I kept it simple, gift-wise. I baked up some soft ginger cookies and then piped a simple snowflake on top of each one and added some foodie pearls at the various snowflake junctions:

I don’t even know if ginger cookies are something Australians even like, but it was from the heart. (FYI, Peanut Butter and Jelly isn’t a thing here. My neighbor asked me what PB&J actually was…”Just peanut butter and jam? On bread? Do you toast it first?”) I’ve questioned a lot of my food assumptions in the past months, especially after having the missionaries over for Thanksgiving. I’m constantly amazed by how different two first-world, English-speaking countries that stem from the same mother country can be.

I put two cookies in each bag, along with a gift card to a popular chain of stores around these parts. Simple, looks and smells good, done.

Michael and I were talking about the irony that this is the first time our kids have given teacher appreciation gifts, and how it really was too bad I never received any teacher appreciation gifts while homeschooling. And then, at the same time, we both laughed aloud and said, “Yarn stash!”

Now that I think of it, a lot of my yarn was purchased at the end of trying school days…

Merry Christmas, Educators!

Bonus link: Doilies to dress up plain ol’ chocolate bars! Squee!

Something Beautiful

April 27, 2014February 1, 20155 Comments

This is my friend Rachel. We’ve been friends for a few years. She’s the friend who “tutored” Bluebird in Latin when we were first starting out two years ago, we embarked on a lofty 72-hour kit creation kick a year ago that she kept up and I did not, and we get to rub elbows a lot in musical pursuits. I think she is one of the coolest people in the world. She’s funny, she’s intelligent, she’s…Rachel.

About a year ago we started a short-lived ritual of walking our dogs during my family’s morning recess break. During this ritual walk each school day (for however long we kept up with it) Rachel and I talked. We talked about religion, briefly visited politics, talked about the books we were reading, and shared childhood memories regarding various subjects that came up.

We also talked about infertility. My dear friend wanted to become a mother, and was having a hard time realizing that dream. I listened as she described what tests and procedures were coming up, I listened as she talked through how she felt about the results, I listened as she thought out loud through something I wished I could fix for her. I had suggested herbs in the very beginning of her struggle to conceive, but it had become apparent through the years that herbs weren’t going to fix the issue. I watched her struggle to control her emotions after a round of fertility drugs; she’d wave it off and shrug, saying, “It’s just the hormones.” So much time and effort to bring into creation a child. Why wasn’t it working?!?!

I prayed for her and her husband. My children prayed for one of their favorite people that she could be a mommy like she wanted. Our family prayed together, out loud, every morning and night, remembering her alongside our cousins and siblings. “Please, Heavenly Father, if it be thy will, allow Rachel and her husband to become parents.”

I just got home from throwing my friend a baby shower.

She’s due to give birth to a sweet little girl in June.

During those walks and talks I made up my mind, should God bless Rachel with a child, that I would throw the biggest, most beautiful baby shower I could muster in celebration of her impending motherhood. To work so hard for something deserved a huge to-do! As luck would have it, other ladies in our neighborhood wanted in on the fun as well, so we went all out.

At Rachel’s request, we had a tea party baby shower; which is funny, because we’re Mormons. As a collective group, we’re not really known for our tea party-throwing skills. Therefore, all the “teas” offered were herbal: Lemon Chamomile, Peppermint, and a rooibos-based Tulsi Dosha Chai. (I made a little announcement at the beginning of the party that there was no actual tea in any of the teapots, and that no one had to worry that I was enticing them to disregard the Word of Wisdom.)

And it was lovely, oh so lovely. The looks of delight on the ladies’ faces as they carried their delicate cups of “tea,” the “oohs” and “aahs” over the finger foods…it was pretty, it was refreshing, and it was just wonderful. I think I’ll be pleased with how well this baby shower went for a long time. It was one of the nicest things I’ve seen in a while.

Seriously, always throw a party with multiple hostesses. There were five of us altogether who put the food together, and it went splendidly. (I didn’t have to touch the Egg Salad Sandwiches or be anywhere near them at all! Score!) We all made what we each liked to make, and everything was taken care of. I was in charge of the tea and scones. That’s it. I also made some macarons on a whim, ~~since I’m obsessed with the recipe from Martha Stewart Living and have been waiting for an excuse to try it out~~ just because.

I don’t have a picture with the mom-to-be, but I do have this one with my fellow hostesses.

I told her that I needed a picture of her
with all her swag, and she obliged me so fittingly.
Love her!

There was a good attendance, and we had fun with the various (non-annoying) shower games. Rachel received some lovely gifts for herself and her daughter, and I saw her make multiple trips to refresh her tea cup.

I took pictures of everything. I knew I would write a blog post about this awesome party that I helped throw, and I wanted some beauty shots to accompany the play-by-play. But as I look through the photos, I’m disappointed because they don’t capture the true beauty of the occasion.

Because what is beautiful about all this, after all the tea and finger foods are gone, is that we’re celebrating a miracle. We’ve watched a heart-wrenching struggle turn into something so joyful that it makes our hearts hurt with happiness, like when you’ve smiled for too long and your cheeks ache.

We gathered together today to bask in the glory of our friend’s answered prayer, to sit together as women and cheer on another one of us who will soon enter the ranks of motherhood. We thought of our own miracles at home; far, far away from the breakable china we balanced in our hands, while laughing at the realization that we celebrate the arrival of motherhood with delicate servingware and dainty foods when the realities of motherhood dictate that we eat PB&J and drink from plastic cups soon after we are initiated.

We hugged each other, placed hands upon each other’s shoulders in concern, smiled, laughed, and nodded our understanding. We shared stories of our experiences–stories about our fears of motherhood, our disappointment with some of our parenting choices, amusement over what children say, gratitude for the help we receive and the lessons we’ve learned, and love for our families and friends. And amidst the clinking of tea cups upon saucers and tearing of wrapping paper, we shared one more thing: A quiet sense of excitement for Rachel. She got her wish, her prayer, her love: She’s going to be a mother.

Which is one of the most beautiful things that this world has to offer.

Cookies & Cocoa

January 22, 2014February 1, 20153 Comments

One of my Wise Mama bits of advice: When you send your (young) children out to play in the snow, set a timer for 30 minutes when the youngest goes out the door. When the timer goes off, start the kettle. It usually works out that I’ve just finished mixing up everyone’s cocoa when some of them start heading back in, pink-cheeked and in need of some refreshment. So much easier than having them clamoring around my knees and telling me how cold they are while we’re waiting for the water to boil.