Wind in My Sails

I know I've been behind in posting. Time seems to go by faster and faster!

Last Tuesday the director @ the girls' preschool told me there was an opening for Ari to stay full days instead of the half days she's been staying. Nathan called me later that day and said, "Let's do it!" Thursday she was there a full day. When I left the school yard, a smile spread over my face as I approached my car. There was that feeling again. Release. Relief. I hadn't planned my day past noon. I think that if I would have begun to run full speed and open my arms, I may have been able to lift off! I felt like I could just soar. A FULL day? No kids! Woah.

Nathan and I met @ the gym for an hour after lunch. It was one of the best hours I've had in a long time. He's my trainer. LOVE it.

Tuesday (yesterday) rolled around. I was FULL of anticipation and had my list full of things to do without the kids: things that are fun for me like going to the furniture store to search out a dresser and living room furniture. I dropped the girls, drove promptly to my favorite "grocery" store w/ list in hand, purchased two days worth of food plus pantry items and zipped home. I was home before 10am and the groceries were unpacked. I was checking emails and then ready to fly out the door again onto the next things. And then the phone rang. And I answered it. The preschool director was on the other line asking me come lift Ari. There went the wind out of my sails. Ari was congested and had green slime... well, you get it.

I really struggled with having to go get her and give up my day. Obviously I had to pick her up. So I did. And then I shifted all my plans to simply spend the day with my little one. We did that too. I haven't spent so much one on one time with her in... oh, it's been a while. We just hung out all day. It was actually a great day. I guess, the wind shifted. Instead of the wind in my sails to carry out my tasks a fresh wind came into my sails to spend the day with my littlest girl. We had a blast!

The Best Day of My Life

I took the girls to the park today. They wanted to be pushed in the big-kid swings. We were a sight. Mateja insisted she wear shorts today (it’s not even Spring yet, kid!) while Ari and I had our jeans rolled up Capri-length. I was pushing those girls high but with slight reservation (these are the big kid swings afterall). They were having a great time.

The evidence: Mateja’s enthusiastic statements that sent me into laughter. Mom, this is the best day of my life! The sky is blue, I feel the wind on my face, the sun on my back and I’m FLYING!! This is the best day of my entire life!

Spelt Pancakes

Here is our "famous" spelt pancakes recipe for all who have asked! Please note, I often "eyeball" this recipe & change it up from time to time. Here is my best estimate about the measurements. Sometimes I add the ground flax seed meal, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'll add a scoop of brown rice protein powder or some other oddball powder mix for a healthier you! Adjust it to your own liking and tastes. If you use all spelt flour rather than a combo, the pancakes aren't much like a pancake. It can be done, of course, but you'll need to adjust your wet ingredients (reduce). To note about the vanilla, I use quite a bit (probably quite a bit more than noted here) because we like that flavor in our pancakes and we don't use syrup as a topping, so... you MIGHT want to reduce that one or eliminate it altogether? Whatever you do, enjoy it!


Spelt Pancakes w/ Flax Seeds
About sixteen 4-inch pancakes

Dry Ingredients:
1 cups spelt flour*
½ cup all-purpose flour*
1 ¾ tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup flax seeds
1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal


Combine in another bowl:
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 ½ tablespoon PURE vanilla extract*
2 tablespoons sugar (or other sweetener like honey or agave nectar)**


Mix the liquid ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients.

*These items are approximate and differ from time to time when I make this recipe. I tend to eyeball this recipe rather than measure it out.

**Sometimes I use sugar, sometimes I use honey, etc. If you use syrup or jam as a pancake topping you will likely want to eliminate this sweetener.

Love AND Logic

So have we mentioned the parenting class that we're taking? I think it's called: Parenting with Love and Logic. I know I started to write about it, not sure I actually posted... ANYWAY ~ We love it. It has given us another perspective on parenting. It has given us some great tools and great knowledge. We love, love, LOVE it! It has also helped us to alleviate some stresses in our home. Hallelujah for THAT, right?

So we are teaching our kids how to own their own problems, which is AWESOME because that means their problems are THEIR problems, not ours. And THAT, my friend, is incredibly rewarding right NOW as well as in the future. Hello! We're getting immediate results here. Gotta love that. (And we do.) Also learning how easy it is to teach my kids how to make their own decisions rather than dictate to them (which is basically what we've been doing since we got rid of their placentas). As soon as I began implementing some of the new things we've been learning I realized how hard it was for Tej to make her own decisions! I had a crazy flashback to my own childhood nightmares of not being able to make decisions. Arg! But then I was filled with hope that my kids won't have to go through the same traumas. And if this is the only adjustment I make in my parenting I'll be uber pleased with the results. Of course it won't be the only adjustment but wowzaaa... it sure hits home for me. So, we'll have to keep updates along the way. We actually only have two modules remaining. I'll have to fill in some tidbits during the upcoming months of how the changes are affecting our family. Anyway... we LOVE our parenting class. Logically.

Cinderella

Discussion surrounding allowance for the girls has been brewing. I have always believed that we're raising adults, not children. I suppose that comes from the way my parents reared me. I can hear my dad now, "You need to be a responsible adult who knows how to earn a living!" And... it begins early (in life)!

I told Mateja that she will have weekly chores as well as additional ways she can work for money. I only wish we had started earlier, but... the timing now is great. As soon as she wrapped her mind around the idea, she began to get very excited.

"Mom, I'll be just like Cinderella! I can sweep and mop and make my bed; I can even vacuum! I'll work every day just like she did. Well, maybe I'll take some days off for holiday. Cuz I'll probably get tired."

Snack of the Day

Everyday after nap, we have a snack. Today it was cheese crackers & strawberries! Not exactly the season for strawberries, but... they are Ari's favorite & can be found very easily. Taste pretty good too!

Tea Time

This morning I set out my English China set to have a special breakfast with the girls. I suppose it was an addition to Mateja's ongoing birthday celebrations. We gave the girls tea (Mateja requested peppermint, Ari got another decaf bag Daddy picked for her) & mini-pancakes. Quick shout-out to Jenn G. for recommending the Organic Batter Blaster (or whatever it's called) which my mom purchased and stuck in our refrigerator. What a crazy great idea for a special FAST and easy-to-clean-up meal. I made mini-pancakes with it. It was awesome. I'm going to have to purchase it again (omg - it's sooo against my religion!) soon - I might make a special trip to the grocer's just to find it, it was that awesome. I can't say that I ate any of the pancakes, so I won't vouch for their taste myself, but the girls ate every last one that I made for them.

Anyway, after a few sips on her hot peppermint tea, Mateja began asking me for some sugar. Sugar is something we use only for baking and even then we use it in smaller-than-called-for amounts. That said, I really didn't know where the sugar was as my baking goods haven't been unpacked yet. I kept going back and forth with Mateja about the sugar. I was NOT going to look for it and really... she didn't need it (there's my religion again). After realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with me, she began the conversation with her dad who reappeared in the kitchen soon thereafter. The conversation went something like this:

***
M - Dad, can I have sugar in my tea?
dad - No. you don't put sugar in your tea.
M - Why not?
dad - Well, in England you don't put sugar in your tea. (he knows this is a fallacy)
~ here she paused, somewhat perplexed and then responded ~
M -But we're not in England. We're in California. So I want sugar in my tea.