Swinging on Birches

Sometimes, when I'm out in public, someone asks me what I do for a living. It's an innocent question, really.  After all, much of who we are stems from what we do, and if nothing else, it allows for some polite chitchat. So, I answer.  "I watch children in my home and stay home with my kids." And then comes the look. Glazed eyes, head nodding gently, benign smile. I can practically see the wheels turning. And for many people in this world that continues to value jobs outside the home so strongly, the idea of staying home and caring for children is truly mind-numbing. And sometimes, it can be. After all, the majority of my days are spent in the mundane. Pack and unpack the travel bag. Change diapers. Start laundry. Wash dishes. Correct behavior. Read stories. Arrange play dates. Prepare meals. And the craziest thing of all? All of these mundane tasks must be repeated ad nauseam. Many times a day. Everyday. For years. But, friends, there is j

My goal for each week is to make a menu and do my grocery shopping based on that menu. I sit down with some past menu successes and a couple of favorite cookbooks and my computer and go at it.  I do a check on our schedule for the week, and also do a quick run by the Meat Man in case there's anything in particular he's wanting. I have some sites that I will typically search when I'm looking for a recipe of a familiar food ( Pioneer Woman or Annie's Eats ), and other times I use general search sites ( AllRecipes ) or even a search engine.  I've gotten pretty good over the years at gauging whether or not something will be successful in our home just by looking at the ingredients, but every once in awhile I'm surprised by the result. I don't have a lot of patience for recipes that don't come together smoothly (who has time for that!?) and you can read more about how I choose recipes and plan our menu here . I am probably successful at menu planning

Apparently, I needed a reminder today. Because I obviously  must've forgotten how big life can be in the moments of raising our littles. (Sarcasm font, anyone?) But, I guess that in the day-to-day, I do  forget at times. And some days, the moments are clicking snapshots in my mind. A huge squeeze from small, pajama-clad arms thrown around my neck. Click. Nursery rhymes sung loudly and off-key, complete with hand motions. Click. Gentle discussions on how to handle real life situations. Click. Raucous giggles from conspiratorial boys. Click. Kisses and hugs and reading and laughing and crying and yelling and whispering. Click. Click. Click. And I look back on the day and sigh a great, exhausted sigh of contentment, and I think to myself, these are humans  we're raising. These little people are learning in every look, every gesture, every reaction. And we, hopelessly flawed people that we are, are teaching them in all

Today is March 24th. This morning, it was 17 degrees and we had snow flurries. Today is March 24th. We've been preparing for spring a bit around here. I've been in a crazy purging/organizing frame of mind for about a month now and even the Meat Man is getting into the spirit by spending all of Saturday raking and disposing of the layer of leaves that blanketed our grass through the winter. So, even if the weather won't cooperate quite yet, I'm pretending spring is here. I saw this recipe on a girlfriend's facebook page the other day, and with a couple of minor tweaks, I knew it would be a keeper. Avocado Chicken Salad Ingredients: 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 2 avocados, chunked 1/4 sweet onion, diced 4 T mayo (I love the mayo made with olive oil) zest and juice of 1/2 lime handful of cilantro, chopped fine *salt and pepper to taste Directions: Cook the chicken breasts thoroughly.  For this recipe, I just boiled mine for 15-20 mi

I want to share a story. A story about a child. He came in to the world in no unusual way--sweet smelling and happy and infinitely loved by those around him. His parents spent a lot of time loving him and in the process, made a bazillion mistakes. Daily. But, they tried. They worked with him to talk, walk, hold a fork, use the potty. They laid with him in bed during bad dreams and allowed him to snuggle in their bed when he was sick. They were lucky enough to be surrounded by great friends and family and mentors. And overall, they did a pretty good job. But again, they messed up. A lot. Sometimes, they pushed him to do things he wasn't ready to do. Sometimes, they held him back when he was ready to move forward. Sometimes, they were too hard on him. Sometimes, they were too soft on him. Sometimes, they got angry when they should've been understanding. Sometimes, they let him get by with something they shouldn't have. And the years pass

I hate February. I really do. Every other month of the year has something to offer.  Lovely scenery or holidays or wonderful occasions. The change of seasons.  Campfire to fireplace, garden to harvest. Except for February.   Nothing happens in February.  No anticipation, no holidays of note, no new beginnings.  February just marks the continuation of a winter that isn't likely to abate for another solid month, at least in my part of the world. It's the month of sameness.  Where January is the tired, happy sigh after the holiday meal, February is the leftovers. February is a hard month for me. I realized recently that maybe February is hard because its sameness lays bare my  sameness.  These days of being a mother of young ones and a caregiver to even more young ones are marked with a startling amount of sameness.   Sometimes, I think of my days as an infinite series of the tiniest steps.   There are no brain surgeries or gigantic acquisit

Let's talk food for a bit. I like food. My family likes food. We try and eat a lot of homemade meals that the kids will also enjoy.  But, this takes time.  And energy.  And money. Three things that all families seem to be a bit short on these days. So, I've been reading the Clover Lane blog for awhile. This mom has six children ranging in age from 19 months to 19 years.  Yup.  Busy lady. She is awesome.  She has a plethora of sage advice on child rearing and family time and simplicity, but she also shares some recipes and some amazing ideas for organizing and paring down. Which gives this mommy hoarder  collector some great ideas. She is my blog crush.  You know, the ones you read and want to post a link to EVERY post??   Yup. Anyway, she's been sharing some very simple ideas about menu planning and grocery lists using--gasp!!--pen and paper!!  (Do people even own pens and paper anymore!?)   I've adopted some of her i

Ok.  If you're looking for a soup where you read the name and it sounds lovely and inviting, this isn't it. And, if you're looking for a soup that isn't a serious color of green when it's ready, this probably isn't the one you want, either. However, it's serious goodness in a bowl. Honestly.  Mr. Meat-eater loved it and so did picky young man. They ate it for dinner last night. And lunch today. And for dinner again. For me, any meal that's a hit for several meals in a row is a keeper.  We will  be making this again. I love that it's heavy enough to warm us up on snowy days like this one, but the flavor is light and fresh enough, I could see us making this in the spring, too. Here is the recipe (and like any good, experienced blogger, I took absolutely NO pictures...sigh...)  A friend passed it on to me after I was oohing and aahing over eating it at her house.  I couldn't find anything like it online, and that is too bad because