Christmas Eve Cinnamon Rolls

For Christmas Eve, my dad came over and made cinnamon rolls with the kids.

Those little hands had so much fun with all the new textures. 

Then, we unbuckled the real fun and let them play in the leftover ingredients to make a big mess. 

Fern topped them off with the icing. 

They tasted good, but nothing was as exciting as the making process. 

Baking With Ridge

When I pull one of my children to do some one-on-one cooking, they become transformed. They're focused, intense, completely obedient, and in-tune with me. 

Then, comes the pride with a job well(ish) done. 

Six Chairs Full

Lark has broken all the baby rules. His birthweight was a foreshadow for his life. Breaking the average 10 pound family average, he blew us all away at 12 pounds. He will not be little, no way! It has continued on since then.

His new thing is eating in a chair. He started this thing where he cried SO HARD at dinner. Being the baby, I had no problem pulling him out of the high chair and eating dinner with him in my lap. Something that I NEVER did with the older three. That's called 4th child perk. Anyways, we finally realized that he was crying because he didn't want to be in the highchair. 

The highchair is no more! His first meal in a chair caused quit the excitement. I remember it was one of our favorite meals of greens, pintos, and pickled okra. He sat there with his chin at table level and inhaled his food. 

The first few days of this were very rowdy. He thought he was big stuff and free as a bird. We thought he was hilarious and precious. Things have calmed down and this has become our new norm. 

Here we are! Finally filling all the chairs around the table. It's another normal thing that I want to celebrate and remember. We're a full family of six, filling the chairs, and filling the table. Dinnertime is such a rowdy good time!

Veggie Wrap

Making healthy decisions is such an adult struggle. While I have the power to make and eat whatever I want, I feel better when I put those good, colorful veggies in my body. 

My doctor told me that it's not just about cutting down the calories. Instead, I need to focus on getting in the much needed nutrients that come from plants. I finally decided to focus on a healthy lunch that tasted good and made me happy. 

Right now, I'm loving my veggies wraps:

hummus

matchstick carrots

sprouts

chopped kale

tomatoes

half an avocado

cucumbers

No dressing is needed because the avocado and hummus offer enough creaminess. My kids call it The Monster Burrito. Paired with an orange, this lunch is as almost as good as nachos. Sometimes self discipline tastes the best-and sometimes dreams are filled with chocolate. 

Valentine's Day 2018

Last Valentine's Day Lark was 12 days old and I can't remember if we did anything special at all to celebrate. Typically, I like to do something small. Special drinks at lunch, a small gift (the kids still talk about the great year when I bought them carabiners and rope), a candlelight dinner, etc. With the barn door closed on making and nursing babies, I felt excited to celebrate the special day this year. 

We gifted the kids bubble bath (mainly for the babies) and a beta fish (mainly for the big kids). The fish has been a big hit! The day after the we gave them the fish, they all had to eat breakfast with it. More on pet life later...

The Saturday following Valentine's Day, we picked up on a tradition that the kids have been begging for: sushi and egg rolls. We did it once before and they talk about it frequently. They were so little back then! The deal is that girls make egg rolls and boys make sushi. The kitchen is full of voices, movement, music, and parental patience. It's a pitiful show of skills, but the pride is still there. Sometimes the best flavors are hard work earned and enjoyed!

It was another fun year celebrating our family's love for one another. Maybe by the time that they're teenagers, we will be like professionals. For now, enthusiasm outweighs appearance and happiness erases fighting. We thank Jesus for this family regularly.

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Christmas Cheers

JOHN IS HOME FOR 11 DAYS. I am thrilled for help with diaper duty, adult conversation, lingering kisses, a few kid-free outings, and (the best part) John's blazing waterfall of Christmas cheer!

This afternoon we found ourselves in the kitchen together. He was making his mother's peanut butter fudge and a new molasses cookie recipe. I was sipping my new favorite punch with rosemary garnish and smiling at the resident leg grabber. 

Our next door neighbor has her grandson in town who has 100 of the best ride on toys and we could see and hear the three big kids playing in her yard and climbing her magnolia tree. 

Jesus is the reason for the season, and these kids play a close second. 

Watermelon At Twilight

With its longer days and buggy sounds, summer invites us outside to stay up later and linger with the sun. We all know this, a tale as old as time. As watermelons drop in price and rise in sweetness, I will cut them up and throw them in a bowl. We all head outside for dinner's dessert. Watermelons outside just make sense-partly for the romance of it but mostly because Mama don't want that drippy mess inside! 

I don't have personal memories of this myself, nevertheless it triggers childhood nostalgia. (So does Fern in her bathing suit-I loved wearing my bathing suit as clothes when I was a little girl.)

Neighbors stop by and we share some more. My kids eat three slices to their one. We can't stop, we won't stop. While the pulp covers their faces and juice runs down their forearms, I tell myself that the mess doesn't own me. If they stand over me and eat and drip, they wake the dragon. DO NOT DRIP ON MAMA!

Then I can't help the cuteness and grab whoever walks in arm lengths of me and scoop them in for a hug. A sweaty, sticky, drippy, smiley, happy hug. Next year, we look forward to Lark joining us-eating and staying up late!

Trending Yesteryear: Quinoa

I know I'm on the tail end of the quinoa trend, so excuse me for not being current. Isn't it a healthy grain, or something that I don't have to feel guilty about eating? Good, that's what I thought.  I'm making a quinoa enchilada casserole (that food blog looks amazing) for dinner tonight, and I've been enjoying this salad lately. 

Have a good quinoa dish? Please share!

Girly Scones

This kindergarten adjustment has reached its hands into each of our lives. Recently John and I talked about Fern and how it's probably hit her the hardest. While Burl is off at school working hard and flourishing, Fern has lost her best friend and closest playmate. 

Most mornings after drop off, we come back home and enjoy time together while Ridge naps. It's a collection of activities. She plays on her own while I do chores; we play house on the den floor; we paint; or we do something special. 

This morning we made scones, and had treats on the front stoop. We took the camera and took turns taking pictures and cutting off the top half of each other's faces. 

She refers to these times as girl time or we're girls together. Beyond the special one-on-one time with a child, I deeply enjoy connecting to my daughter. I'm becoming more aware of how much she looks to me for what a girl is, and I love creating simple moments where we can be together. 

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Baking is not my favorite thing, but these scones were easy and delicious. 

Strawberry Custard Pies

We almost missed strawberry season in Tennessee. However, despite having a newborn, we were able to score some local strawberries. There was almost a fight over them at the produce stand that had me giggling inside. Everyone got their berries, but one lady was upset that she wasn't able to have first pick. I dodged the drama, got my berries and went home. John worked his magic and made our favorite custard pies, a secret family recipe. 

Burl's First Chop

Winter (combined with my pregnancy) has kept us indoors more than we're used to, so we are doing ALL THE THINGS we can in our house. Recently, I let Burl play with knives...

Ok, playing with knives is a much looser way of describing what I really did. I let Burl chop with my chef's knife during dinner prep a few nights ago. When time and energy allows, I love to involve the kids in cooking, and chopping was a big step for us. He was so careful and I was so proud. It was very exciting to see how well he did with this-it felt like such a milestone, up there with first steps or first smiles. I guess I could call it his first chop. 

And just for good measure, I looked up one of my all time favorite pictures of cooking with baby Burl:

Ode To The Loaf

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes us with a baby carriage, then comes John's homemade bread that changes the way I view the world. For three weeks John fed the starter/researched/planned, and last Sunday he woke up at 3am to make it. I'm just not the person to spend this kind of time on one thing, but I'm glad I found a man who does. 

By dinner we had two beautiful golden loaves. 

The moment of truth finally came when John cut into them. For first loaves, he hit the ball out of the park. He was proud. We took several pictures and sent them to our family: oh my goodness! look at this bread! it's amazing it's amazing it's amazing!!!

Then we tasted. 

Fern liked the soft part in the middle.

Burl said he loved it and it was so, SO good!

John and I were amazed.

After tasting, we sat down for dinner and enjoyed the fruits of all John's labor.