In the RAW

If you've been around me recently, you know I've been playing with some raw recipes. Raw as in not-cooked; therefore leaving all the nutrients in the food...we've all seen the nasty green water after we boiled the broccoli too long, right? Some are better than others, but you can search 'raw recipes' & come up with a vast amount of options.

1.) Flax pancakes...a base of flax meal, liquid coconut oil, sea salt & pure maple syrup (grade B is the best for you as a natural sweetener). Then shape the mixture into "pancakes" & top it with blueberry syrup (blueberries blended with a bit of water & a couple of dates for sweetness), bananas, walnuts, & strawberries. I LOVED it, it tasted more like a dessert honestly. The boys? The first bite they were singing praises, but by the end it was a contest of wills to get them to finish. Go figure. HERE is a recipe almost identical to it.

2.) Oat groats....rolled oats as we know them are not oats in their true form. Who knew? Not me. The way we find them in the store they are steamed, flaked & processed, thus losing a lot of the good stuff (potassium, vitamin B, protein & loads of soluble fiber) & decreasing their shelf life. This recipe is so simple: soak the groats over night to soften & rehydrate them. Rinse them thoroughly the next morning & put in your blender (or food processor if you like it chunkier, more like 'real' oatmeal) w/ some unsweetened almond milk, a ripe banana or 2 for sweetness (depending on the size of the batch), & vanilla (w/ no alcohol). We top it with almonds & Gogi berries (never heard of those either? well, don't get me started on those amazingly healthy & yummy dried fruit, but google away if you're interested). Voila! We all totally love it...even the babe & that is the real test.

Lucky

This year the green pictures I managed to capture were all about the food (we munched upon Potato Spinach Lasagna, green grapes, Irish H2O in green tumblers & Grasshopper Pie **layers: cookie crust, homemade fudge sauce, mint-choc chip ice-cream, homemade whipped cream & decos--so where do the grasshoppers come in Jaydon wanted to know?**....the rest of the family?

Well, half-naked child #1 was doing this:

Yes, [clean] underwear makes for good head-wear

Jyson was working madly on this:

His huge 26 page, A-Z "Young Author's Book." Mother is proud of him for working so hard, and oh-so-happy that it is DONE!

Half-naked child #2 was doing this (not sure exactly what this is):

Tony? Likely he was wading through the tornado zone that was our living room trying to make it presentable once again whilst dodging flying pillows from Jaydon who really wanted to play & occasionally swinging the underwear princess around in circles when she screams "Daaa--eeee!!!"

Me? Well, I was making the green dinner, keeping Lego-man motivated, trying to find another occupation for Jaydon so Tony can clean, & taking turns with the tot. In short, being Mommy.

Rather than opt for a rushed 'everyone put your green clothes back on & smile for the camera so we look like a normal, St. Pat's Day family' I chose instead to take pictures of it all, just like it was (please tell me you have nights like this too ;)

Just Stuff

After helping Jyson one night with his project for Dr. Seuss Day (see next pic) he was so grateful he sent these adorable thank-you's "Jyson-style" floating down from our little balcony. Just what this momma needed.

Jyson, a.k.a. "Horton" in the Dr. Seuss parade

Can you guess what is in the middle? A loved, screaming-with-joy lil' doll who sure gets a lot of play time from doting brothers.

Ari decided to rest in the toy basket while pillows were raining down all around...

Family Fun Night!

After having one of 'those' weeks we desperately needed some 'happy time' last Friday. We played, ate tinfoil dinners w/ a side of caramel popcorn , & served a neighbor some 'quality-assured' leprechaun goodies---a.k.a. store-bought cookies (we're not in Idaho anymore, Dorothy). Purrr-fect.

We love our snow days!

Last week we had FOUR snow days during the week. The boys spent a lot of time reading & playing in the snow & Ari LOVES being outside.

Ari Baby @ 18 months

These are the "squinty" pictures of Ari when my friend was trying to get her to model her hair accessories. Still pretty darn cute & AWESOME, unique stuff for moms & daughters, friends, aunts, cousins, everyone! You can get to her website here and then I have another fantastic friend in the ward who works with her, but does different stuff & you can get to her website here. Go check it out!!

Updates on her many 'accomplishments' :

--Is 110% smitten by her Daddy, just yesterday we were looking for him at church, when she finally spotted him she let out the most high-pitched, delightful squeal, "Daaaa-eeee!!!"

--We still have to straight-jacket her to get her to eat the 2nd half of her meal..or even the 2nd bite. I think she's affected by the texture, smell, temperature, color...you name it! However, that said, she adores eating & will do it non-stop if you let her (as long as it's something she likes of course)

--Goes through the strangest sleep patterns. She'll sleep great for awhile, but then she cycles in & out of waking up & wanting a bottle to go back to sleep until we decide to let her cry it out...again. We were so consistent for so long, but for some reason this darling doesn't seem to recognize that so I'm starting to think that the only consistent thing about her sleeping is her inconsistency

--Tender tummy, teeth & body: she has thrown/spit up quite a bit in her young life. Every tooth & bit of sickness is a new crisis for this babe (thus compounding the sleep issue).

--Absolutely LOVES to give hugs & kisses & pat us on the back if it looks like we need it

--The computer keyboard & mouse are her new favorite toys, along with the big lego blocks.

--She' definitely taking her sweet time developing her voice, but she uses her sign language regularly for "please, thank you, food (that's a regular alright, like clock-work about 10 or 10:30 every day), drink, & more. She can say: please, Mommy, Daddy, shoes (gock), uh, oh, bottle (ba-buh), hi, bye (ba-bye) & once in awhile she'll say her version of "Jaydon & Jyson."

--Is obsessed with her outer-wear. She wears her boots all day & many times she wants her coat, hat & gloves put on too. We wonder she doesn't roast!

--She is very tolerant of her sometimes not-so-gentle brothers & how they "play" with her. She is so excited when they walk in the door every day.

--Can NOT hold still. The car is still an issue because she's belted in & church is a joke! She looks like a jumping bean the whole hour of sacrament!

--She has entered the "nursery" & she didn't look back once. She still eats the crayons more than colors with them & just dumps the 1" of water in the baby cup they give her, but oh, she was ready! The first week the leader told me, "wow, she's full-time isn't she!"

--She has learned to say "uh-uh" to everything...whether she means it or not

--Outside is one of her favorite places to be...she gets to wear the outerwear after all!

--She's beginning the "walk-run" as I like to call it...away from us of course :)

--Her giggle is everyone's favorite sound 'round these parts