just go, mom!

Today is the day.  Buzz is so big.  He's ready.  I'm ready.  

I love the story these pictures tell.  We both gained courage with each step.

 

 

 

 

By the time we got to the classroom, he told me twice to "Go!!!"

breaking free

There she goes.  4th grade already.

To everything turn turn turn....there is a season turn turn turn. Pete Seeger is singing my inner soundtrack this morning.  A time to build up, a time to break free.

We want to raise a happy, strong, independent girl who can't wait to push free and change this spinning ball we are on.  Please, 4th grade, be good to my rockstar world-changer!

concerts

They're happening.

Oh my happy heart.

mojitos

School starts in 5 days.  Congrats people - you're on the final count.  Breathe in, breathe out.  Patience is your friend.  Bike rides are too.  And let's not underestimate the T-to-the-V.  I'm pretty sure that when the pediatrician asks me about screen time, he means except for the last week of summer.  My kids might or might not be on disk 14 of Little House on the Prairie.  But I feel like that's prep for Social Studies class.  Right?

But summer has been good.  Real good.  Let's squeeze everything we can out of what's left.

So...mojitos.  More specifically, Delish Mother of All Mojitos.  

Making mixed drinks beyond rum and cokes is intimidating.  Not these.  I promise!

handful of garden mint
1 Tbsp. sugar
half a lime
a can of ginger-ale
2 shots (give or take!) rum
4 or 5 icecubes

Wash the mint leaves and put them on a cutting board.  Top them with the sugar and chop it until it makes a paste.  Put the paste into a tea sieve (or anything with super tiny holes) over a glass of ice.  Pour the rum, then the juice of the lime, then the ginger ale through the crushed leaves.  I pour it slowly and get in there with my finger, mushing the leaves as I go because I like a strong mint flavor.  Traditional recipes call for soda water, don't do it.  Do ginger ale.  Its zip and sweetness is what makes this one so good!

Cheers!

rock painting

We have been picking up rocks everywhere this summer.  Michigan beach, Colorado mountains, Kanopolis campground, at the park, walks, church, backyard....And bringing them home to paint. 

They are super into it, and will stick to it for a long time.

They seem more into doing it, and doing it well, than hanging on tightly to the finished products.  Win-win for me because we spend a hearty length of time on something fun and I don't have to find a place among all the other junk around here to keep them!  Well, ok...not junk junk...but you know what I mean.

Every time she falls in love with a new rock and gives it her attention, I'm reminded of her namesake.  Evelyn collected rocks, loved them well, and knew their stories.  My Evelyn does too!

vices

So... long story short, Eva has a "leaky gut".  She (woot-woot!!) isn't allergic to corn after-all.  Just sensitive to it because her stomach is literally leaking toxins into her bloodstream and causing her asthmatic symptoms.  Dr. Amazing helped us figure it out.  She has to take some vitamins and avoid all dairy, egg, and peanuts for the next three months.  Along with the usual avoidance of all gluten.

That's quite a tall order for a 9-year-old.  Especially one who doesn't eat much meat.  Ditto times a million for her 29-year-old mama.  But I'm going egg and dairy-free with her because it just seems like she shouldn't have to go at it alone.

Its hard.  Hard hard hard.  Stupid hard.

We are at the end of summer and I'm tired and wiped out.  And boy, do I love to eat.  I love the garden vegetables, I really do.  But I also love CHEESE.  Oh for the love of all things delish, I love my cheese.

Said in my best whine: I know its hard for her - good God, she's the one with the LEAKY GUT - but it's hard for me too.  Largely because meeting her food needs on top of her, dare I say it, seriously exhausting emotional needs is no walk in the park.

So let's talk about coping....

There might or might not be a stash of these hidden in the basement.  They might or might not have milk in them.  I might or might not once or twice eaten them by the handful.

 

I've been swimming when Ryan comes home for lunch for a year now.  But the outdoor pool is open now for noon-hour swim.  Its like chlorinated, watery, cool, sunny, blue therapy.  Upping my swim time and laps gives me a great mid-day break, and [BONUS!] feels like I might be doing something good for this skin I'm in with the dairy and egg free life too.

 

And more than anything, I've taken to lighting a candle frequently in my office (read: kitchen windowsill).  It reminds me that this mom gig is hard.  That I'm not alone.  That I hold my crabby, hard-working, mama self to the Light and all will be well.

Impatience

 

I left my church job and started a new job - convention planning for MCUSA - this week.  The old job people gave me a plant as a parting gift.  Impatience.  Ha - they swear there was no pun intended.  But oh serendipity!  I brought it home, gave it my all...watered it (probably too much), talked to it (probably too much), stroked it lovingly, gave it sun (definitely too much).  And killed it in no less than 48 hours.  Oh the irony.

Impatience.

I'm not really patient.  Especially not about church-ish stuff.  I like me that way. 

basil salsa

I owe you an apology for holding out on you for so long.  I've only had this for about a month, but its so good I should've found it and told the world five years ago.

I've tried it 5 times.  No fail.  Crowd-pleaser.  Deee to the lish!

1 medium zucchini, chopped in big pieces - skin and all
1/4 c. onion
1 c. fresh basil leaves
1 jalepeno, seeded
1/2 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, minced
zest of one lime, plus the juice of it

(that's right - no tomatoes!)

Give it all a whirl in the food processor.  You don't have to do much chopping first - just throw it all in.

We have been eating it with chips, mostly.  But I also spread it on a sandwich, and another time served it alongside grilled chicken.

A helper like this one brings out the flavors, I'm pretty sure....

Go make it and change lives.