8 months already.

Happy 8 months Kendie!  God, I love her so much.

In case you are reading this one day, Bunny (we all call you "Bunny")
You still wake up once during the night for a bottle (so spoiled ;))
You cut your 1st tooth this week
You are crawling on all 4's (army crawled at 7 mos)
You are PULLING UP! (earliest baby to do that!)

You are the happiest, most content baby ever, ever, ever.  It is a joy and a pleasure to spend each day with you.  I really have no words for the honor I feel to have been blessed with the opportunity to be your mommy.  My forever thankfulness to your birth mom, Nikki, who also loves you so much.
I will always love her.

BlendTec Salsa

It's tomato season and we have a plethora of tomatoes from our CSA.  Not that I'm complaining!  We slice them up, sprinkle on some real salt, and eat them for lunch they are so ripe and delicious.  But even with that.....did I mention we have a plethora?

So I threw a bunch of them in the BlendTec this week and made salsa.  Super easy and took about 5 minutes, no joke.  Here's what I did:

4 large organic tomatoes
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and ribs removed
1/2 organic onion
large handful organic cilantro (I threw in some parsley also b/c I had a ton!)
1 organic lemon, squeeze all juice in to blender
real salt and peper to taste

Throw all of the above into the BlendTec and lightly pulse until desired texture.  Pour into mason jars and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

UPDATE 10/7/13:

I made this again today (did I mention how many CSA tomatoes we have!?) and I tweaked the recipe a bit....added a bit of cumin and a pinch of coconut crystals.  And a few cloves of garlic -- how did I miss that last time!?  I didn't do lemon this time but next time I'll add some fresh lime juice, just because.

Also, I wanted chunky salsa so I drained out some of the liquid into my crock pot of chicken tortilla soup that's sitting here simmering....

Madeline's 1st Day of School

First day of 7th grade

  The other kiddos don't start until after Labor Day but CC's Challenge program starts this morning!

Mammoth Cave National Park

We took an RV trip with Mark/Cara and the girls this past weekend.  Cara took all the incredible pictures so I will have to post later but the trip was amazing.

Friday, we leisurely made our way down to KY, stopping at Lincoln's birthplace and his boyhood home.  It was amazing to walk the same fields that he spent so much time using to grow food.  The kiddos loved wading in the creek that his boyhood friend, Austin Gollaher, pulled him from when he was nearly drowning.

We actually camped in Dog Creek park which was near Mammoth Cave.  The campground was perfect, right on the Nolin River with incredible views and a great beach for the kids to swim.

Saturday we hiked the caves and did an outdoor hike as well.  The weather could not have been more beautiful.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was watching the kids hone in on their fire making skills.  With the appropriate supervision, we let the girls completely build and tend to their own fire on Friday night.  It burned until morning!  On Saturday night it was the boys' turn and Gabe listened carefully as Mr. Mark and Daddy explained the importance of a teepee set up for the kindling.  Here's a picture of Gabe and Lincoln's fire which they built and lit on their own!  (thanks to the men for keeping it going until late into the night.)

Raw Chocolate Almond Butter Balls

Fancy title, eh?  I see things like this in recipe books and online and decided to create a "raw" version.  And then I came up with a fabulous name for them.
I'm sure there is a much better version out there but honestly, these aren't too shabby.

1 c. organic oats, soaked several hours (not too much water!)
1/2 c. raw almond butter
2/3 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. flax seed, grind it (that will be almost 1/2 c. once you grind)
1/3 c. raw honey (I used honey from my own bees!)
1/2 c. raw cocoa powder
1 t. vanilla

Stir this all together and then roll into balls.  Chill and enjoy.  Or just eat a couple spoonfuls as you are making it.  Either way, enjoy!

Raw Chocolate Ice Cream

Dump the following in the BlendTec:

1 cup raw milk (don't shake the milk jar so you get the good cream too! :))
3/4 c. raw cocoa powder
1/4 c. organic hot chocolate mix*

Hit Pulse a couple times and then add:

1 t. vanilla
3 cups ice cubes

Select the Ice Cream cycle.

If you like it soft serve, eat it right away.  If not, freeze it for several hours.  I ate it soft serve last night and frozen for breakfast  today.


*this is not raw but every recipe I looked at called for sugar so I decided to add a tad bit of this.  It was delicious!

Sir Cumference

Reading aloud is one of the greatest things you can do for your kids.  I didn't make that up, my mom told me.  And she knows everything.  Truth be told, my parents read to us all the time growing up and I do the same for my kids.  We just finished a biography on Corrie Ten Boom and my kiddos were literally begging me each day to continue reading!

I was reading this book to my boys this morning and it reminded me what a huge fan I am of the series. Set in the times of King Arthur you get to know Sir Cumference, his wife, Lady Di of Ameter and their son Radius.

Each book focuses on a different math concept and is certain to inspire your young mathematician!  Plus, it keeps them sitting still for a few minutes.  ;)

(thanks Amazon for letting me borrow your picture.  I was too lazy to take my own!)