Busy Hands Homestead

I etched my last tumbler.   This one has bunches of beets on a plaid table cloth. Tomorrow morning it is off to the clay studio to throw a few more cups.

My kitchen is turning into a studio...  again.  Twelve tumblers in progress. 

Previous birthdays we invited all our our friends.  We had potlucks. We sipped beers and chatted while the hoard of children played in the background.  I anxiously eyed the weather forecast.  Her birthday day yo-yo-ing between sunshine and rain.  Our home is not suited to squeezing large groups of folks into, and this year it seemed the focus should be on the birthday girl. So I narrowed the list down based on her friends rather than mine..  hoped we would have sunshine and that everyone would understand...  and made invitations. Ivory is five. This birthday, more than previous birthdays, feels like a rite of passage. Suddenly she is school aged. She is enrolled in kindergarden and after this summer I will be dropping her off into the care of another for hours each weekday.  This is a change I can hardly fathom.  While I stitch the seams of her new touch-the floor-princess dress I worry about back packs, school lunches and if she will fe...

Fairy slipper - This is the first one we say, and then we noticed them everywhere. A two year old chopping down morels with glee!   A quick dip in the hot spring.  We made it home just as it was getting dark.   When we got into the car it was just after 7pm (Montana time). We had been tromping around the woods for 9 hours.  No complaints from the kids...  we stopped at the Lochsa Lodge for dinner... and did not clean our kitchen.  Here is our loot: 8 lbs of morels!

Half-awake I stumbled down the stairs early this morning with Sylvan on my hip.  He had requested a trip to the bathroom.  As much as I wanted to just roll over and tell him - "You are wearing a diaper.  Just pee in it." - I figured that would counter the daytime potty training efforts.  So I stood up, picked him up and we went to the bathroom.  He went right back to sleep and I stared at the clock: 4:30.  I might as well get up. By the time the Ivory and Sylvan both joined me down stairs I had put the finishing touches on G is for Garlic , and was tediously painting rows of kernels on I is for Indian Corn . By 9:00 we were mixing up our second batch of Whole Wheat Pretzels and were two loads of laundry into the day. By 11:30 I was parking my bike under the tree and Ivory helped me unload the groceries (WIC run!) out of the bike trailer. By 1:00 Sylvan was down for a nap, my list is half checked off (the laundry is hung) and I am trying not to...

Flowers, French Toast Casserole with Blue Berries and Cream Cheese and a Fantastic Straw Hat (not pictured).  What more could a Mama want? A Marlies and Susan Collaboration - my newest flower pot purchased at The Clay Studio's Mother's Day Sale.  A late, late afternoon walk in the bright sun.

F is for Fennel D is for Dill  E is for Endive (unfinished) N is for Nectarine W is for Watermelon (Oklahoma's state Vegetable - no joke) S is for Strawberries

L is for Leek S is for Strawberries  I spent the early morning hours painting.  I started the project when Ivory was about 6 months old. By started I mean that I purchased a set of wooden letters and a box to store them in.  I had enough foresight to include enough letters to spell Mama, Papa and Sylvan.  I knew then that if our future included a little boy, he would be named Sylvan.  Since then I have managed to sand all the letters and paint a few. Each letter features a fruit, vegetable or herb that starts with that sound.   I hope to finish painting all the letters before Ivory learns to read... and that is a skill she could master at any moment. C is for Carrot E is for Eggplant D is for Dandelion

I remember walking the home from my first WIC appointment. I felt happy and proud. I had taken the initiative and was contributing something to the well being of my family.  Over the next two years we have walked through the tunnel or over the pedestrian bridge to check in, say hi, weigh the kids, annually measure iron levels and print out new vouchers.  I look forward to the visits - because - I get to chat about kids and food with folks that deal with kids and food. I don't feel that using the vouchers is difficult.  I just try to come up with a way of using this resource in a manner that is compatible with the nutritional goals that I have established for myself and my family. (No Corn Syrup, No Hydrogenated Oils, as much real, unprocessed food as possible)  Along the way I have tried many different things. Some of those things I have not repeated: African Ground Nut Stew for example - good - but we have some peanut butter based recipes that h...

I woke up and put on SANDALS! Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Fresh Basil in a giant wood fired bowl I threw out of 25 pounds of clay  A Northside get together at the Northside Park

I have two children on the WIC program between the ages of 2 and 5. Every month, per child we receive: 3 gallons of skim, 1% or 2% Organic Milk 36 ounces WIC Breakfast Cereal 2 64 ounce Plastic Bottles of Juice or 12 ounce Can Frozen Juice 2 16-14 ounce Whole Grain Choice 1 16 ounce Package WIC Cheese 1 18 - 16 ounce jar WIC Peanut Butter 1 dozen large "A" or "AA" White Eggs $ 6.00 Fresh Fruit and/or Fresh Vegetables and/or Frozen Vegetables Before Sylvan turned two he was allowed no peanut butter (he had the dry legume option) and whole milk.  I wish the whole milk was allowed for older children, especially since there is established research linking lower fat content in milk to higher rates of obesity on children . My solution - I allow the kids to add half and half to their milk on request. I always get the 8.9 ounce box of cheerios, and the regular size of rice chex and corn chex.  It used to take me half and hour to select cereals.  But af...