Catch Up

Another month has almost come and gone and still my blog remains strangely silent. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my head I write at least 2 blogs posts a day. I fall asleep with great ideas of things to write about but whenever I make it to the computer all I can think to tell you about is my simple little life at home with 3 kids. To sum it up, there is never enough time, never enough hands, never enough laundry being folded and not nearly enough patience. There are disgusting messes, 30 little fingernails that seem to constantly need to be trimmed, and we never have enough dark chocolate.
I love every minute of it. Even the minutes I don't love, I do love. Does that even make sense?

Month in review 

I got the flu. again. I was down for 4 days. Then I gave it to my Mom. 

I made smoothies in both kids classes on Valentines Day. It was SO fun! Loved that all the kids had something healthy instead of a bunch of junk.

We went to Mammoth for Presidents day weekend. It was SO fun! The kids skied for the first time this year. It was awesome, they are getting much better. By the last day, Tully was flying down the hill so fast that I almost had to close my eyes, Tessa was looking like everything was just a piece of cake and I had a flash of what I might be dealing with when she is in high school and way too cool to be seen on the hill with any family member. Beck and I did a lot of hanging out at the condo. I read 2 books, "Dreams Of Joy" by Lisa See and "Unbroken" by , I highly recommend both of them. One of the things I love about going to Mammoth with my parents is that I get to do all the cooking but they pay for all the food. I love trying new recipes while we are there. My Dad is especially enthusiastic about most things I make, which fills my cup. Love me, love my cooking. I had several winners that I will for sure make again. Vegan Veggie Lasagna, Moroccan Chick Pea soup with Coconut, "Fried Rice" that was actually cauliflower instead of rice, and some yummy veggie sandwiches. Beck spent his time in the condo alternating in practicing being cute and trying to make a mad dash up the stairs. He also spent a lot of time dancing, drumming on every surface and crawling as fast as he could around the living room.

Have I mentioned that Beck is extremely cute? He is really developing his own little personality, and he is becoming a little chunk. My arms can feel a big difference as I carry him around all day. He is also becoming a major dancing machine. Whenever he hears music he starts to groove. He especially loves going to the kids' Hip Hop class. I think he thinks we are actually there for him.

In other news, we are starting to talk about our summer plans. I've thrown out a few different options. The one I'm leaning towards is renting our house out for a month, flying to Canada and then camping our way through Banff, Jasper etc. Have yet to convince Matt. I figure this would be a prefect time for dreads. For now I've learned how to french braid my own hair. 

Tasks for next month, learn how to make a quilt, plan our summer, ween my kids off of dairy, continue with our family Lent devotional (more on this later), sleep through the night, blog more, consume much more kale. 

Be still my heart

Besides the fact that chips and crackers have no real nutritional value, they are just plain not good for you. I would be lying though if I said that I never dream about, crave sour cream and onion flavored chips and crackers. Now, I admit, I am weak and if my dairy allergy didn't prevent me from buying these things I would probably 'cheat' on my healthy eating a little bit too often. Enter the Sour Cream & Onion Kale Chip. Girlfriend, you heard me right! I said, "Sour Cream & Onion KALE CHIPS." Where has this recipe been hiding the last 3 years? I found a recipe that looked good on Carrie On Vegan and tweaked it a little to my standards. Be still my heart.

In other baking related news, I've been seeing a lot of dessert recipes in honor of valentines day that call for a can of black beans. Yes, I said black beans. I am having trouble wrapping my head around the recipe for  Valentines Day Dark Chocolate Strawberry Muffins  or Black Bean Brownies (they should really change the name) that call for a can of black beans as their main ingredient.  Which of course means I'm going to have to try at least one of these recipes. Wouldn't it be great if they were actually really good AND guilt free? Hmm, I'm feeling skeptical. This will probably turn out like my dessert hummus.

Today was a great MOPS day even though everything went wrong before hand. BUT I realized something as I was letting people hurl questions at me. I have some secret blog stockers. Leave me a comment people! Don't be afraid, be a lover not a hater. I LOVE comments. Be still my heart.

January

In my head I blog several times a day about all sorts of interesting things. Somehow though I never make it to the computer long enough to actually do it. It is one of my goals to be better about this in 2012 but as you can see I am only just catching up.

Here is a review of January 

Beck: We could never ask for a sweeter baby. Even with a 2 month long ear infection he is a constant joy and light in all of our lives. (except at 3am) I love watching him when I pick up the kids from school. He practically throws himself out of my arms to reach them and loves their hugs and kisses. He is pulling himself up on everything and has just discovered that he can 'play' the piano when it is open. He kind reminds me of a puppy, sometimes he gets going so fast that his body can't keep up and he does a face plant. He also howls along when Tully is practicing piano or Matt is playing guitar or Tessa is dancing to music. He has learned how to respond to "How big is Beck?" and it is just the cutest! We are working on waving and signing "more" and "all done" but whenever I ask him to do any of those he just does "so big." Love. it. 

On Wednesday he got tubes in his ears and his adenoids out. Poor little guy was not happy coming out of anesthesia but was his happy self again soon. Um, and that night? He slept. the. whole. night. Thank you tylenol with codeine. 

Tessa: Can you say Hip To The Hop? Tessa has discovered her love for hip hop dancing and can often be found practicing in the garage. She is usually game to preform for you once she feels comfortable and it is pretty cute. She has started a hip hop dance class and loved it. She's a little.... stiff, but that kind of makes it even more adorable. 

She is thriving at school and it seems like she has finally really hit her stride. She is doing much better on her numbers and letters and loves being in Kindergarten! We are so thankful for her teacher and her unending patience with these little people. I know I couldn't teach kindergarten! 

Tessa and I have a little game we play lately called "All of the reasons I love Tessa," I start listing off all of the great things about Tessa and sit back and watch as her smile gets bigger and bigger. The little girl who used to get mad if you paid her a compliment is no longer. 

She still thinks she is Beck's Mom and Daddy is still the best person in the world. 

Tully: Speaking of Hip Hop, someone else has discovered that he likes Hip Hop too. It is hailarous to watch as T & T stiffly dance together in the garage. You can see that they are feeling all of this energy when the music comes on and they just want to get it out but can't quite figure it out. I have some good video. 

Tully is loving to read, is always wanting to work on his math book (groan, how do I have a child that loves math?) and can't get enough time with his friends. 

He has started golf and looks forward to every Thursday when he gets to go to golf with Jack and Spencer. He is still in constant movement, always playing soccer, basketball, kickball or just running. Constant running. through our house. all of the time.

We had a lot of sickness in January and are hoping that were done for the year! We ended a great weekend with the McCraws with most of us getting the flu after we had just recovered from a round of strep. Come on Elderberry, do your work. 

In the kitchen, January has held an addiction for Kale that I never knew was possible. A ridiculous love of sweet potato smoothies and a desire to make a healthy dessert hummus that Matt will actually eat. I've read several good articles this month on health, reversing autoimmune disease,  vegan eating  Evidence for a Vegan Diet (which I don't do but am fascinated by), and weight loss. 

MOPS also started up again and as we start what is going to be my last semester as coordinator I find myself feeling both extremely nostalgic and strangely grateful. 

I've read a couple of great articles on parenting this month also. Ann Voskamp's article on  What a parent want to say before a child leaves is amazing. I would of read it out loud at MOPS but there is no way I could have gotten through it!

My goals in February are to continue to eat well, and continue to try to send myself into a 'recovery state' where I don't experience any symptoms of my disease. To try to get Tully to actually eat his lunch. To put something other than yoga pants on at least twice a week. 

I was also encouraged when hanging out with my friend Jill (Joy in the small things) today to say a blessing over my kids when I drop them off at school. Numbers 6:24-26, I plan to get to know you well. 

I also want a tattoo but I think I'll wait on that one.