A quick clip from Abby's performance at her Suzuki half-book 1 graduation.

She set a goal to finish book 1 by September 30, a lofty goal but I know she can do it!

Father Daughter Dance

Has it really been a year?

Seeing Daddy in his tux for the first time (this year!)

Be home (well) before midnight girls!

Edible Columbus Spring Issue

Madeline's 3rd article, Starting With a Seed, was published in Edible Columbus several weeks ago.  You can view it by clicking here or heading to their website here.

Enjoy!

To All The Moms (& Moms-to-be!) I Love

.....especially my own.  I love you, Mom.

Real Life

Thank you Madeline (I think?) for capturing a clip of our morning routine.  I went to download my photos and seeing this made me smile.

Avocado Uses #7,649

As I was leaving my sister's house a couple nights ago, she handed me a package of carrot broccoli slaw that she said she wasn't going to use.  Last night I decided to make something as quickly as humanly possible fun out of it.  Turns out, GLLAM loved it and scarfed down every morsel.  Guess I'll be making this one again....

1 package of carrot broccoli slaw (make sure its organic as carrots are root vegetables that like to gulp up all the toxins nutrients in the soil and broccoli is.....ok, I digress.)
2 avocados diced
2 small apples diced
generous handful of raisins
even more generous handful of your favorite nut (I used pine nuts here)

Toss with the dressing of your choice.  For this salad I used:
1/4 c. good olive oil
1/8 c. raw apple cider vinegar
2T. sweetener (I used coconut granules)
1 clove garlic
real salt/pepper to taste

Watch it disappear!  (on a side note, the photo would have been much more appetizing had I grabbed my iPhone before downing the 1st half.  Oopsy!)

The kids have rescued mice (are you kidding me!??!) and we are carting them off to Classical Conversations today as they must be fed every 2 hours....they are the size of my thumb.  Yes, Madeline & Kate researched all the necessary information to bring these Mus Musculus (you know that's the scientific name for "little thief" right??) back from certain death.    OMGoodness.

Pineapple Mango Salad

Wash and chop the organic greens of your choice.  Then, chop and add the following:
medjool dates*
pineapple
mango
red pepper
cilantro
red onion
pine nuts
avocado

Drizzle on the homemade dressing of your choice.  Here I used:
fresh squeezed lime juice
real salt
Bariani olive oil
dash of raw honey

My inspiration for this salad came from Whole Food's pineapple mango salsa.  I threw the last scoop on my salad one day and, oh my, it was delish!  So, that's a nice short cut when you are pressed for time! ;)

* I am obsessed with medjool dates.  First off, because they date back to circa 65 BC.  In fact, they recently unearthed a seed near King Herod's palace in Israel and replanted it!  I'm sorry, but that is just uber cool.  On the health side, they contain a bountiful amount of vitamins and minerals.

Happy 9th Birthday Abigail!

I love that you considered it an honor to share your birthday with the resurrection of our Saviour.
You're just that cool.  Speaking of honor, what a privilege to have you as our daughter.  We love you!

(Let's all pretend that it's not completely obvious that Lincoln sampled the cake)

Easter Eve

9:39 p.m. and I'm already this organized the Easter Bunny has already come?  This is a record!

Happy 7th Birthday Lauren!

Today will go down as one of my favorite birthdays ever (I think I always say that!)  We took our favorite Bug to lunch today and headed to the pet store since a fish was high on her list.  Then, we took in a matinee.  As we were walking back to the car afterwards, all holding hands, I said to myself, "I hope I never forget this moment."

The party tonight was equally fun and we just dragged them all in from practicing on the new soccer goal (thanks Brit!!) and they are off to bed.

Lauren, your bright smile makes every day more fun.  You are amazing.  We love you Ellie-bug!

p.s. - When Lauren asked me for an ice cream cake this week I decided to entrust that to the professionals and spend my time taking her on a fun adventure instead.  Sometimes, you just gotta do it.  Thanks Baskin Robbins!

Breakfast in Bed

My favorite things about this clip:

1. It's real life.
2. I'm singing.  (one of my kids recently asked me why I change keys during a song....FOTFL!!)
3. Lincoln has Gabe's sweatshirt on.  Backwards.
4. It's more like Breakfast in Hall.  Because that's how my kids roll sleep.
5. I was more concerned about the liquid gold freshly juiced apple juice and less about the carpet.
6. The effected sleeping items are already churning in the washing machine!
7. It's real life.

Happy Birthday Bug!  We are off on a full-day adventure!  More to come....

I Can't Believe its Raw Buttah!

Lauren made butter this evening....her first go-round all by herself.  Truth be told, it isn't hard.  We skim the amazingly thick cream off the top of our raw milk and dump it in the Kitchen Aid.  Hit go and watch it turn from cream to butter.  Add some salt towards the end if you like it that way, which we do!

Then, squeeze the liquids out with your hands (her favorite part) and wrap it in a paper towel for a quick second.  You can then mold into your favorite shape.

Lastly, we ground up some wheat berries in the BlendTec and she took the liquids -- aka buttermilk -- and poured them overtop.  These will sit overnight allowing the grains to soak.  In the morning, we'll add a couple ingredients and voila, the most delicious pancakes.

The entire process took about 9 minutes.  That's my kind of cooking!

I captured this as I was siting on the patio watching GLLAM.  Life is good.