Butterfly Oatmeal

Good morning! *stretch*



As I puttered around this morning, opening up the house and doing my morning routines, I was thinking about what I would cook this morning for breakfast. I am striving to feed my family better, and provide more cooked meals on a regular basis. Once, a bowl of sugary cereal and possibly a banana was the standard~ now it is just the back up plan.



I think it all started when I was thinking out loud about making some cookies, Dd chirped up that she wanted me to make Butterfly Oatmeal. Really? Ok :) I can do that.



While DH and the kids were watching Lazy Town in the bedroom, I was poking around the kitchen, measuring this, calculating that. (I really enjoy how quiet the kitchen is, before the kids discover me in there) I drifted into thought as I cooked. I remembered back 10 years ago, when my oldest was a todder and the story of Butterfly Oatmeal began...



Anne-Marie was about a year old, and already was developing into a wannabe picky eater. I had to find creative ways to introduce new foods. Her vocabulary was pretty big for her age, understanding much more then she could repeat. She used both sign and spoken words to communicate her needs, and to our suprise, her wants. One of her newest words was butterfly, and she loved seeing them in her shows and outside.



I was out of oatmeal, and had some Cream of Wheat on hand. I was skeptical about getting her to try it, especially since it was one of those foods that I struggle to eat. We would take a bite, testing the temperature and showing her how tasty something was. It was a fun game... as long as I ALSO liked the item.



She started to refuse her bowl, when I creativly told her it was Butterfly Oatmeal! Her big eyes looked up at me, "Fuf-fly O-meel?" Her high pitched little voice echoed.



"Yup! Sure is!! Mmmmm See? It's sooo tiny, even a butterfly can eat it!" Those magic words held all the information she needed. Butterfly Oatmeal was forever stuck in her mind as the bestest stuff in the whole wide world.



Basically, all it is, is Cream of Wheat, seasoned with brown sugar and butter. Sometimes, I add raisens when I add in the dry CoW, other times I use syrup instead of sugars, and still others I use milk instead of water.



Today, I used sugar and butter, and then added in some red and green sprinkles. "Oh Yes! The color is what attracts the butterflies!! You don't see grey flowers calling all those pretty butterflies do you?" I tell Kayleigh, as we introduce Butterfly oatmeal to the littles this morning. Her eyes get big as they look up at me, "Buf-fye O-meal?" I smile and nod knowingly at her, as she digs in; my latest wannabe picky girl.



And of course, Kayleigh had to have seconds of that yummy Butterfly Oatmeal... Everyone else was full at the end of their own bowls, including Jacob~ :~)

Diggin' Diggin' Diggin'

I think I've found my new exercize routine! My poor body seems to think so!

The children raced outside this morning before breakfast, decked out in their much despised overalls, in order to get started in the garden. I convinced them all to come back in and eat, before we got started. :) An hour later, we were all dripping with sweat and gulping our waters.

After a very full day of digging and clod busting, we cleaned the backyard back up, and swept off the patio. I have had to get the kids busy on getting all the dirt clumps off my carpet, and chores will resume VERY soon. ;)

So, I measured out the garden today. It is 20 feet long on the long parts of the L and 10 feet wide. Yea!!

I tried to squeeze too many pictures into this one... :)

Thoughts of Lent

Ash Wednesday is just around the corner, this NEXT Wednesday to be exact. I realized this yesterday and mentioned it to the kids.

"Look at that! It's almost Lent! We need to think about what we want to give to God for Lent." I told the kids as I looked at the calendar.

"Oh! I want to give him flowers!!" I hear behind me. :) Sweet child...

"Flowers are nice, but that's not what we're doing. We are supposed to give something to God that we shouldn't be doing anyway. Some people give up TV, or game systems, some give up bad habits or behaviors. Some people give up things that are unhealthy, like sugars and caffine. Think about it today, and we'll talk about this more later."

So we went on with our day, digging and such. At lunch time, DH came home :) Not 2 minutes after he walks in the door, a child asks, "Daddy, what are you going to give God for Lent."

DH looks at me very pointedly, grins, points to me and says "Cigarettes"

*groan* Good one Honey. "So we are going to give up cigarettes, Dear?"

"Sure. When does Lent start?"... "That's 40 days, right?"

"Yup, 40 days and 40 nights.... Till Easter Sunday"

"Alrighty then." Looking rather smug, he wandered off.

Dear Lord. Please protect my sanity and my children as we trasition away from poisoning our bodies. Please ease the effects of withdrawl, and keep our tempers in check. I can only do this, with your help. Amen.

Note to self: find out what the kids plan to give to God for Lent. Attend Ash Wednesday services. Pray. Clean out all smoking areas, hide all ashtrays, and empty all areas where long butts may be found.

A day in the Garden

Ahhhh, the smells of spring... Ok, So maybe not spring yet, but for a beautiful 65* sun-shiny day... It FELT like spring. All my friends are talking about feet of snow as blizzards race across the eastern United States. I miss the snow.

Instead of snow, we took the day off of formal studies to start digging in out garden. I showed the girls how to break up the great grass clumps, keeping the dirt and worms but tossing the weeds. DD told me at one point: "You're the Best Mom Ever!! I'll gladly dig in our garden all week, if I can skip my studies!!" I don't think she realizes that she is still learning ;-)

Worms. yes, Big ones, fat ones, skinny ones, slimy ones, LOTS of grumpy earthworms were discovered in our chosen plot. My 7 year old and 3 year old decided that worms are EWW!! My 10 year old is fascinated by the worms, and grossed out by the bug larvae (grubs?) We talked about what happens to the worms when they get chopped by the shovel (2 for the price of 1!), and what good worm casings (poop) is for the soil.

The layout changed a bit, and if DH has his way, it might shift a bit more. I started digging in the area I don't plan on backing down about ;)

While we were out digging, Jacob came out to explore. He climbed chairs, splashed in puddles, explored the playhouse, and avoided the green pokey stuff as much as possible. He must have had fun, because he was covered in dirt. After a good long nap, he awoke to discover our Miss Gabby here. After some more time outside on the trampoline, Miss Gabby took the littles in for a good scrubbing.

Now our day is drawing to a close, and the children are helpfully cleaning up the kitchen and livingroom. As soon as the dishasher is done, I have 2 big girls that need showers. I have a supper to go put together... Pot Roast, Carrots, Potatoes, and fresh Challah. Many blessings to you and yours on this Sabbath.

The Garden Begins

I kept thinking I needed to go to the store and pick up garden stakes. This has kept me from plotting out the garden for over a month now, even though I have it all planned out on paper. Today's peeking sunshine motivated me further, and with a flash of inspiration, I realized I had the "perfect" thing!! Solar Lights!!

So here is the layout of the beds. I have a section marked out for access to all sides, which is also where there is a pile of rocks from around a tree we lost last winter.

The girls are out right now, removing all land mines from the garden beds, and then I'll start turning the soil and removing all current green things- which are no considered weeds. Hmmm, we were happy our grass as filling in at one point... LOL