Archive for November, 2011

We are in full preparation mode around here…cutting, creating, lighting it up. Christmas is coming! We spent an entire day covered in paint and mod podge…creating handmade ornaments for our tree.

We had big plans to get a permit to go cut down a tree in one of the nearby forests, but after a big wind storm a few weeks ago, we found this sweet little tree laying behind the house. It turned out to be the perfect size, it has “character”, and we just love it! The girls had such a great time hanging their ornaments…it’s been so special to have our own tree this year!

All of these preparations are not just to “decorate” or make things pretty for the holidays. We are awaiting a King! Jesus’ birth is the single cause for celebration. And this year, we are turning our eyes toward Him every night after supper as we read together from Ann Voskamp’s Jesse Tree devotional.

With Bella and Lucy snuggled up with Daddy, we light a candle and learn more about His love for us and the grace He extends. So excited to walk through this amazing Advent time with my loves and to create new rituals and traditions together as a family.

What are some of your favorite rituals and traditions during the holiday season?

My sweet Matthew gave me the BEST birthday gift this year…an entire day on the town with one of my dearest friends, Natalie. Oh, and a $100 bill I plotted and planned where I wanted to go and what I wanted to buy for weeks. It has been a very long time since I’ve had time alone and money to spend on JUST ME. It was an amazingly blissful day.

We started our morning at one of my favorite restaurants in Boulder, Brasserie Ten Ten. I love their simple and delicious French fare…and you cannot beat the ambiance. We talked and talked and laughed harder than I’ve laughed in awhile.

I have dreams of their Eggs Florentine: poached eggs, seared greens, tomato confit, english muffin & hollandaise. Like I said, very simple…but the taste is outstanding. I savored every bite without having to take anyone to the bathroom in the middle of it all.

Next on the list was a leisurely walk down Pearl St. with stops at some of my favorite stores. We spent a lot of time in Peppercorn, a fabulous home/kitchen store. I have a little bit of an obsession with the gorgeous Le Crueset cookware line. I’m thinking of asking for one for Christmas. I spend so much time in the kitchen every day…one of these beauties would make me happy every time I touched it.

I can’t pass up an opportunity to meander through a bookstore without children…and Boulder Bookstore is a mighty fine place to do that. And when I have a voracious reader at my side, it’s even more fun. Natalie and I had fun picking out random titles and laughing at their contents. I ended up picking out a spy novel at her suggestion and it’s great so far!

I love love love a little store on Pearl called Bliss. So many fun things to look at. Lots of stationary, paper, cards, candles, jewelry. A store you can get lost in.

We ended our day with steamy cups of almond milk Bhakti Chai at The Laughing Goat. After sitting down at the very last open table, we continued chatting about marriage (have you read her guest post on that topic yet?), travel, holidays, and more. So good to catch up. Our time was coming to an end…it all went by WAY too fast, but I was so thankful that we had that time to celebrate my 35th birthday together.

Are you wondering what I bought with my birthday cash?! I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Anthropologie mug forever. I’ve been longing for it ever since my friend Khrista starting posting photos of her beauty with gorgeous lattes. As a side note: her blog is a beautiful place to hang out. Go there!

I love salt. And I REALLY love it when I’m pregnant. While we were at Peppercorn, I spied this mortar & pestle and tons of delicious gourmet salts. I’ve wanted one for awhile, and this was the perfect time. I also picked up this cute little handmade & fair trade salt bowl and spoon at Momentum. I found some yummy plum colored hand warmers there as well.

And lastly, Natalie made me this awesome hand painted sign…”Let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see”. Ahhhhh…yes my friend. Let us. Thank you for sharing in my beautiful day!

Another season of Raccoon Clan has flown by! Bella loved her time spent exploring and learning last spring and she was SO excited to get “back to the land” after the summer break.

Every Thursday we dressed her in layers & warm boots, and sent her off with hot soup, bread, and treats.

Lucy loved playing with the other kids, but of course had to say goodbye as they prepared for a fun day spent entirely outdoors.

Last week was this season’s closing celebration, where we were able to see everything they have been working on and learning. One of Bella’s favorite activities was carving her own arrow and learning about archery.

It’s always fun to connect with my beautiful mama friends…we enjoyed hanging out each week and would stand and talk about unschooling, our kiddos, and the weather

To kick off the ceremony, we gathered around the fire and sang a blessing together. It’s so lovely to get all of the families together in one place for a common purpose.

The kids created this awesome centerpiece from pods, berries, and leaves. So fun!

Potlucks are the BEST! I should have taken the foil off of these front two dishes because they were amazing…but as you can see, it was a cornucopia of whole food goodness. Lots of squash, quinoa, black beans, bread, meats, and cheeses. Mmmmmm…

Everything tastes better when eaten from a hand carved wooden bowl! This was Lorene’s (the Raccoon Clan leader) bowl and it was so beautiful…I had to stop her before she ate it. She carved the spoon herself too!

Bella was so excited to show us everywhere they had been exploring…and this red rock wall was nothing short of stunning.

This was the flag that the kids had worked on and all of their arrows, throwing sticks, and fire making supplies. It was neat to see all of their hard work laid out on display.

As the evening continued on, there was lively conversation, children at play, and drying of socks over the fire.

Lemonade berry tea was brewed over the fire during our time there…it was quite tasty, kind of like a sour hibiscus tea.

It started to get dark and it was time for goodbyes. The next session starts up again in late February and Bella is already asking “how long?!” I’m thinking the same thing! We’ve loved getting to know all of these families and I’m thankful that we’ll see many of them at unschooling group events over the next couple of months.

Click HERE to view the entire Fall 2011 album on Flickr.

If you would like to find out more about Raccoon Clan and other programs, check out Her Feet On The Earth.

Happy Sunday everyone! We are finally coming out from the cloud of flu that has been hanging over our house since last Tuesday. I haven’t left the house since then…so I think we may go out to a little cafe for lunch and I am oh so excited! Fresh air, someone else cooking for me, mountain views…sounds good to me.

Here are a few of the things that made me smile this week around the web:

I’m always looking for playtime ideas for the cold winter months. I recently filled a large, flat tupperware with about 10 lbs of popcorn seeds and the girls have been going crazy with it. Yes, it can be messy…but fun is sometimes messy! We call it the “seed box”. You could also use beans, wheat, or real sand if you’re out of your mind Here is another idea with oatmeal.

This week I want to make homemade playdough.

I know I have seen Kat’s incredible sweaters on Etsy before…but had never seen her website until today. Kind of obsessed. And I want her house. Oh, and her busses. As I type this, I’m listening to this podcast interview with her. Love. It’s a beautiful conversation about making art, how “stuff” can take over, traveling light, and more!

I adore this idea. I have many cards and letters from dear friends, but they are all just in a box. Punching holes in them and putting them in a pretty binder sounds like way more fun.

I like to buy sweaters at the thrift store & cut off their arms for leg warmers…but I’ve always wanted to do something with the part that is left. I think I will try this next time! Circle scarf = happy.

Bella has been obsessed with snow globes for as long as I can remember. Can’t wait to make these with her!

Have you seen my “Lovely Spaces” board on Pinterest? I go there when I want to smile.

I like to make stuff and feel crafty…although it seems to happen less and less these days. These bracelets look pretty simple and I’m excited to go thrift store!

We have oodles of gaffers tape laying around from all of our hoopmaking…so I was excited to see this idea. Bella has loved making duct tape wallets, so I know she’ll love this.

Thank you to everyone who posted recipes and links for bread and muffins! So excited to try them out over the winter. After posting that, I found this great page with tons of bread recipes.

Hope everyone is healthy and enjoying a restful Sunday! xxoo

I have been spending a lot of time in this here corner of loveliness…it houses my baking corner and my bulk goodies. I have longed for a space like this forever…and oh how grateful I am to finally have it.

There is just something so wonderful about having everything I need right at my fingertips…and yet not cluttering up the kitchen. It’s inspiring to see them all on display and  it makes assembling recipes so easy!

And so…we have been baking up a storm…in the snow storms We love baking something warm and delicious inside while the snow is falling outside.

Bella is an excellent helper and always offers to help with any baking task…we’ve been learning a lot about numbers and measuring through this.

I like to call this beauty “My Precious“. I LOVE having a full size oven again. Love love love. And it’s gas. Which makes me insanely happy. I think I would rather cook over a fire than an electric stove!

Our muffins must always be eaten with hot tea! I recently re-stocked my favorite tea, Rishi’s Citron Oolong…so I’m a happy girl. The muffin that we tend to make the most around here is the Delightful Banana Nut Muffins from The Garden of Vegan. It’s one of my most requested recipes from from friends and family…so I thought I would post it here!

Delightful Banana Nut Muffins
Cookbook: The Garden of Vegan
By Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup dry sweetener (I like rapadura or turbinado)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
¾ cup ground flax seed
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 t vanilla extract
2/3 cup soy, rice, or almond milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sweetener, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flax, and walnuts. In a small bowl, combine the bananas, oil, vanilla and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients with the dry and mix together gently until “just mixed”. Spoon into a lightly oiled muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

On the day of our big snow, Bella decided that we simply must have a muffin picnic in front of the fire, and so we did! Such sweet memories I have with my girls.

And lastly, my friend Ellen gave me a yummy recipe for Sunflower Seed Cookies…and of course we made them right away! They were SO GOOD. Although, I think it had something to do with the copious amount of sugar in them You can always cut back or add alternative sweeteners if you’re so inclined. They can also easily be made vegan.

Sunflower Seed Cookies
Serves/Makes:   4 dozen

Ingredients:
Cream together:
1 cup butter or Earth Balance
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs or egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend in:
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup sunflower seeds

Directions:
Mix together well. Drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 8-9 minutes.

For more yummy muffin recipes, check out my food blog, Happy Foody, under the muffin category. If you’re a fellow muffin lover, be sure to check out this great article on “How To Make the Best Muffins Ever“. It’s a goody.

Next I’d like to get into baking homemade bread. I’ve done it before…but I would especially like to make sourdough and english muffins, along with some crusty, hearty soup breads.

If you have a tried and true recipe…please share it below! Also, please share your all-time favorite muffin recipe so I can stop making the same one over and over

**As you can see, my blog has a new look. Big thanks to Lisa and Noah at My Little Buffalo for all their help!

I’m looking out my window right now at another 8 inches of beautiful fresh snow. So I thought it would be nice to remember warmer days Here is a little recap of all the lovely people who came to visit us this last summer. I could honestly write a long post on EVERY SINGLE ONE of these visits, and I normally would, but it’s recap only this time because I’m playing catch up!

Monica flew in from Portland and we had such fun in Boulder, exploring on a sunny Saturday…basking in the sunshine at the farmer’s market and leisurely exploring Pearl St. Just seeing these photos brings back such sweetness to my heart.

My sister, Laura, flew in from Minneapolis for a quick visit and we enjoyed showing her the Colorado sights. She will be here for Thanksgiving and New Year’s too…but her hubby Dan will be coming with her! So excited.

Rachel, Chad, and Oliver took a vacation to Colorado…coming all the way from beautiful Indiana. We packed a lot into our time together…and it was such a blessing to see these dear friends after not seeing them since our tour in 2007. Rachel and I have been faithful pen pals since and I so love keeping up with her writing at Mighty Violet.

Matt’s cousin, Dustin, and his wife Anna brought their two kiddos from Minneapolis for a visit. We had a GREAT time hanging out…Dustin schooled us on fancy craft beers…and when I say “schooled”, I mean he told us about them and we ooooohed and aahhhhhed We gave them the grand tour of the front range, including the essential trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The delightful Tiffani stopped by for a few hours during her grand road trip across the country. We took her out for Indian food and hooped it up. We weren’t too sad to say goodbye because we knew we’d be together a month later in San Diego!

We spent a day with Mandy and her four awesome kids. She decided to go on a road trip when her hubby when out of the country and I was thrilled to be able to meet her in person after reading her blog for so long. Be sure to click over for a read…she tackles the hard questions of life and faith. It’s raw and honest. Love it. We squeezed every drop of life out of that day…and it was definitely too short! Can’t wait to hang out again someday…

And as I’ve already blogged, Jarod, Jen, and family were here in July to buy the RV and Mullers were here in April. We’ve had SO much fun with our numerous visitors since we moved to Colorado…our friends are so fantastic and life is so much richer because they are a part of it. We are blessed.