The other day, I took my boys to the County Fair. While we were there, especially as the day got warmer, we saw lots of people drinking slushies. My boys were fascinated by these bright-colored beverages. I didn’t want to buy a fair slushie drink. The day-glow colors told me that they were full of artificial colors, and they were likely loaded with corn syrup too (which would make my little guys break out in a serious rash).… Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Camus
Our inner spirits, unbounded and pure, are strong, beautiful, and ready to thrive if we let them.
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” -Albert Camus
A Day at the County Fair
Each year when the County Fair is in full swing, we make a venture out to our local fairgrounds. Our fair is small (very, very small compared to many other county fairs – but then our county is pretty small), but that’s part of what makes it a great experience.
My boys love animals, so we spent lots of time wandering through the animal barns.… Continue reading
Meal-in-a-Glass Smoothie
What do you do when it’s so hot outside that you child declares he’ll only eat a smoothie for lunch? Make sure that smoothie is a nutritious meal in and of itself. To make this smoothie, I combined lots of greens – kale, spinach, and spirulina powder, generous amounts of healthy fats and protein – coconut and cashew butters, frozen bananas to give it some sweetness and to make it nice and cold, as well as some cacao powder to make it all taste yummy (in addition to cacao’s wonderful nutritional benefits).… Continue reading
Simplify Saturday: Cleaning out more Baby Stuff
As my youngest son grows older, we’re ready to part with more and more of our baby stuff. Our family is complete with our two delightful boys, so we’re ready to pass the things we’re no longer using on to someone who will use them.
This week, I sorted through bunch of baby gear. A large number of blankets (all were gifts, most of which we never used; a common trend in our collection of baby gear; see HERE), a wrap-style baby carrier (which I wore and used daily for most of the first two years of my boys lives, but they’ve now outgrown), a backpack-style baby carrier (I had two, and kept the one that fits my small frame best – I still use a carrier at times for my 2-year-old), a baby sleep sack (also well used), as well as a few unused odds and ends are all making their way to another home.… Continue reading
Fruit-Sweetened Double Chocolate Cookies
When my 6-year-old asked if we could make a batch of cookies for when our friends came over to visit, it seemed like the perfect time to try this fruit-sweetened cookie recipe. I came across this recipe on Real Healthy Recipes, and loved that the primary sweetener was dates (in addition to the minimal amount of sugar in the dark chocolate chips). … Continue reading
6 Items a Baby Really Doesn’t Need (even though society will tell you he does)
In this article, I continue my discussion of What a Baby Needs that I began a couple of weeks ago (you can see the first two parts HERE and HERE). In this article, I’m taking the contrarian approach of listing a few items that are generally considered necessities for a baby that we decided to do without. Some of these items made their way into our home as gifts, a couple of which we ended up using because they were nearby and convenient, but others of which we didn’t ever use even though they were in the handy.… Continue reading
Honey Mustard Chicken Wings
My 6-year-old loves chicken wings. He asks me to make them constantly. For a long time I had a difficult time finding organic chicken wings, although recently I’ve seen them more often (now if only I could get my local store to carry organic chicken feet…). This week we found the wings, so I agreed to make a batch.
We frequently eat our chicken wings brined or with BBQ sauce, but I this time I decided to try something different and make a honey mustard glaze.… Continue reading
Thought for the Day: Whitman
This very moment is the time to choose happiness.
“Happiness, knowledge, not in another place, but this place—not for another hour, but this hour”
— Walt Whitman… Continue reading
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
Last night as I lay down with my 2-year-old to fall asleep, I whispered to him, as I always do, “Good night. I love you.” Instead of the simple, “G’night” he normally whispers in reply, he launched into a string of good nights, “G’night, Mama. G’night, Daddy. G’night, Brother [he calls his brother “Brother” as he has trouble pronouncing his name].… Continue reading