We are in a very busy schedule right now, and it was important to me to capture the requests the kids throw at me at the oddest times.

Driving to gymnastics... "Mom, can you make french toast again some time?"

At the library... "Can we go to the aquarium again?"

At home at dinnertime... "Can we make the project in this magazine?"

One of my favorites.... "Can you buy me a balloon animal kit so I can learn to make balloon animals?"

Before, I would nod, change lanes at 70mph, drink some more caffeine, and try my best to remember what the kids had asked...but sure as the sun rises, five minutes later, I would forget.

I now have the "Striped Notebook." It could be any notebook, but this one is handy because it fits in my purse, and by calling it the Striped Notebook, the kids know which notebook to write in. All requests go in this notebook now...food requests, trip requests, gift ideas, all go in the notebook. They will ask something, and then I'll say, "That's a great idea! Put it in the notebook!" Project ideas from magazines have the magazine name, issue, and page number of the project put in the book.

Now, the time to get to the list is not guaranteed--but at least the kids feel like they have been heard, and I feel like I am giving them the seriousness of my attention--even if it is on paper, and looked at later.

Our front yard was graced with a bevy of cedar waxwings today. These capricious little birds are among my favorites...they are difficult to attract. Berries and running water are the best way. When I do see them, I usually have to blink and make sure they aren't a house sparrow or house finch...their "bedhead" usually gives them away though, and then the black mask is a dead giveaway.

So, today, my camera was at hand, and I was able to capture proof of my elusive visitors. You'll notice that there is a rather imperious looking robin as well (on the right). That is a good indicator of the waxwing's size---I had always thought they were much larger, but they are pretty small. Check out the cool yellow tip at the bottom of the tail.

There was also a ton of robins in my front trees today--they must be migrating and chose our yard as a gathering place (my neighbor has a couple sentinal sycamore trees that are a landmark for many different flocks of birds). There was SUCH a cacophony!  I felt like I was in an aviary. I managed to tape a little of it... Hope the flashplayer works for ya'all. 

On my very long list of handicrafts I would like to expose the young'uns to, is spirograph embroidery.

If you are unfamiliar with this art form, or know it by a different name, here is a very simple example.

Today, I received a Christmas card from my relatives in New Zealand, with a very cool example of spirography embroidery. I thought I'd share this great idea, and make a mental note to myself to try this sometime--maybe have the kids make our Christmas cards next year.

The blanket is done! The blanket is done!!!

Started last August, the blanket I knitted for my friend in superwash baby wool (so you can wash and tumble dry it) turned out great! It's in a robin's egg blue and lavendar (she doesn't know the sex of the baby).

I knitted it on circular needles (size 6) in a stockinette stitch (you knit both sides) which was perfect for bringing it along to the kids' activities. If I were to do it again, I'd probably use slightly larger needles (8 or 10) to get more of a striped effect in the stockinette, but this turned out fine).

Now, it was actually a pretty fast knit for a blanket...I had to take a break from it in October to make my daughter's competition costume.

As a last touch, after casting off, I went back and crocheted a little border around it (3 chains, and then a single into the blanket). Tada!! Big accomplishment for me...starter of many projects, completer of few.

;-)

Christmas

by Gumby Girl, 8yo

Christmas, Christmas, the best time of year
Let's give Christmas a jolly old cheer

Christmas means dolls and books and more
Your parents will buy you some toys at the store

They'll wrap them up with a tight red bow
and don't worry if the days go by slow

Because on the twenty-fifth
Santa will slide down the chimney and leave you a gift.

As a lifetime fan of PBS (the station this time, not paperbackswap LOL), I have always loved Jack Horheimer's Star Gazer 5 Minute updates on what's interesting in the sky that week.

If you are not familiar with the program, Star Gazer is the world's only weekly television series on naked eye astronomy. Each weekly episode features selected objects for naked eye viewing for the following week.

Because it is only 5 minutes long, however, it often does not show up in programming schedules, making it very difficult to catch.

After visiting the Star Gazer website however, I found that they are videocasting the episodes as well! You can subscribe for itunes here, or play them with Realplayer from here.

Keep looking up!

An interesting site that has bird lovers' sketchbooks on it.

Wonderful for Nature Notebook inspiration.

http://www.surfbirds.com/Sketchbook%20/skindex.html 

Funny story how I came across it. I was thumbing through a very old issue of National Geographic World that was in a pile of magazines a friend gave my DD. It had an article on a very talented bird artist, Jenny Brumfeld, that at age 13, showed amazing talent as a wildlife illustrator. I was curious to see if her work was online, 11 years later. The internet is an amazing thing. Her work was featured on the Surfbirds site, and she is still a truly gifted artist.

What I really took away from this, is a sense of wonderment of knowing ones' passion at that age, and having the commitment to dedicate and continue to pursue it. I've read books on living your passion, and one of them suggests making lists of what your favorite things to do were at the ages of 11-13. What did you do for hours and hours until you were interrupted...they suggest that those were clues for your passion, and that you should try to tune into that again.

I hope that I will be able to key into my children's interests at these ages--make sure they are journalling, and when they are inevitably waffling when they are older, help remind them what their passion was.

Just some uses I've found for my new favorite organizing tool...$1 photo albums!

I pick them up when I see them, because they seem to be there one minute, but nowhere to be found when they are on my shopping list! I see them (in the US) at the dollar bins at Michael's, Joann's, and sometimes Target.

I printed the kids' poems they study for recitations. I've printed them on 4x6 cards and slipped them in the book, with the current memorization in the front...that way they can flip through and review past poems.

Another one, I am slipping receipts from Christmas Shopping in. That way, when I have returns (I already have a couple from some shoes I bought the kids that are too small...whoops)...I just slip the book in my purse and voila, I have the receipt (still readable LOL).

I am now printing up photos of the house that I took when the house had "everything in its place." Yes, it happens every once in a while. I'm putting the photos in the album for a visual right/brain cue for myself and the kids as a goal for each of the rooms.

I'm sure I'll find lots more uses...I'm thinking of scanning my current knitting patterns and shrinking them to fit to take along in my knitting bag.

And of course, don't overlook the most obvious use...photos of the kids to be sent to relatives.

Sometimes there are hits, and sometimes there are misses. This was a very healthy hit for my family tonight--and seems so versatile, I'm sure we will make it again in the future.

From "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross

Thai Coconut Milk Soup (approx. 6 servings)
3 tablespoons ghee or olive or coconut oil (I used olive oil)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (I used jarred garlic)
3-4 tablespoons curry powder (I used Trader Joe's jarred curry powder)

1 cup chopped onion (1/2 very large onion)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

6 cups of a variety from the following:

Broccoli florets

Carrots, cut in ½ inch slices (used)

Celery, cut in 1-inch slices (used)

Cabbage, cut in approx. 2-inch chunks

Green beans, cut in 2-inch pieces (used)

Potatoes, cubed with skin (used)

Greens, chopped or snipped with scissors, if large (add in last 10 minutes)

Pea pods or snow peas (add in last 10 minutes)

Green onions, tops and all, cut in 1-inch pieces (add in last 10 minutes)

About 1 ½ pounds protein like:

Fish

Cubed Shrimp (add frozen, works fine)

Scallops, cut into bite-size pieces, if large (add frozen, works fine)

Cubed Turkey

Cubed Chicken (I used two large cubed chicken breasts)

Cubed Pork Loin

5 cans coconut mild, full-fat and with no preservatives (substitute chicken or vegetable broth for some of the coconut mild, if you’d like)

(I used 2 cans Lite Thai Coconut Milk from Trader Joe's, and 2 cans chicken broth)

1/4 cup fresh basil, minced, or 1 tablespoon dried (didn't do)

In a large pot, heat the ghee or oil. Add the garlic, curry powder, onions, and ginger. Saute about 5 minutes, then add the veggies (except greens, pea pods, and green onions), and the protein choice. Stir until coated with the spice mixture.

Saute another couple minutes, then add the coconut mild. Stir until all the flavors are incorporated, then let simmer until the protein is cooked through (about 20 minutes for thawed seafood, 30 minutes for meat, poultry, and frozen seafood), stirring now and then.

During the last 10 minutes, add greens, pea pods, and green onions, if you are using them. When it’s all cooked, add the basil and let it open up a few minutes. It’s ready to serve.

I served it over a combination of brown and white jasmine rice. Yummmm.

Yes, it's true...if you follow my recipe for waffles...disaster may occur!

The batter is pretty wet, and the steam can literally make the waffles rise with such force that they will (ahem) break the lock on your waffle maker (as happened to my friend...sorry Angi!!!!)

I had the same thing happen when I used a (ahem) liberal amount of batter...more than I usually do. So, forewarned is forearmed.

For what it's worth, here's the recipe I'm referring to...I'll put a warning up there too.

I turned on the RSS feature to the site...

...given my infrequency of updating (!) I hope that helps anybody that reads this to catch the updates. ;-)

Update: Just fixed the dead KA Flour link.

I love making a nice warm breakfast for the kids before we start school. It warms the kitchen up, and gives a nice smell....but it can be a lot of work. I've stumbled on a versatile, healthy all-in-one recipe that mixes and matches beautifully...and best of all, the kids beg for it.

THE DO-ANYTHING BREAKFAST RECIPE

4 eggs

milk

sugar as suited

dash vanilla

1 cup flour*

*I've been using "White Whole Wheat Flour" by King Arthur flour.

That's it!!! I PROMISE.

With this recipe, I make pancakes on Mondays, crepes on Wednesdays, and waffles on Fridays.

THE PANCAKE RECIPE

Take your four eggs, and whisk in 1 cup milk. I add about 2 tbsp. of sugar, the vanilla, and then change to a stirring spoon, and stir in 1 cup flour until "unlumpy." I cook my pancakes in a nonstick skillet with just a bit of cooking spray. Cook on medium heat, and flip when bubbles break towards the center (but you know how to make pancakes, don't you). ;-)

THE CREPE/SWEDISH PANCAKES RECIPE (my kids' favorite)

Take your four eggs, and whisk in 1-1/4 cup milk. I add about 3 tbsp. of sugar, the vanilla, and whisk until bubbly. Then I whisk in (not stir in) the flour. Be mean. Whisk away...bubbles are good. Now, the trick to a good crepe, is a nonstick skillet. If you don't have one, I'm sorry, but I wouldn't even attempt this. Spray the skillet lightly, and over medium heat pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan. Rotate the pan so the batter makes a large, thin pancake. Cook one side until little brown spots appear, flip (I use a rubber spatula) and cook lightly on the other side (again, until telltale brown spots appear). In my pan, it takes exactly one minute per side (I set the timer for one minute so I can clean between flips).

If it is kind of thick/undone/rubbery in the middle, you may need to decrease the amount of batter. After cooking both sides, fold the pancake into quarters, and serve, or make a pile of them. You will be amazed how long they hold their heat folded this way!

Many people eat these dusted with powdered sugar...or with some jam tucked inside. In Denmark, they serve thise with a square of ice cream inside (for dessert, not breakfast)!

So, same recipe...little more milk. Get it?

Okay, recipe number three.

WAFFLES

UPDATE: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WAFFLEMAKERS WITH LOCKS*

Take your four eggs, 1 cup milk, vanilla, and sugar (I think I use 2 tbsp.)...whisk together, and add 1 cup flour. Now, you may have a great nonstick waffle iron. Mine is nonstick, but it sticks...know what I mean? So I add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the batter, and whisk it in. It all evens out because we don't eat anything (butter or maple syrup) on our waffles...the choice is yours.

I use 1/3 cup batter on my iron which makes a small waffle. My waffle iron makes a waffle with this batter in 2 minutes exactly. I set a timer...go do a chore...and come back in two minutes...load the iron with batter again, set the timer, and do another chore.

You will find that the waffles do not rise very much (due to lack of baking powder in the recipe), and resemble Eggo-brand waffles more than traditional starchy waffles.

*If a liberal amount of batter is used, the steam can break your waffle lock (as happened to my friend. Sorry!). I still use the recipe, but I use just enough to cover the middle of my iron now.

There it is. The DO-ANYTHING BREAKFAST RECIPE. With minor variations (cinnamon, diced apple, blueberries, or craisins added) you can use one recipe with virtually no boredom.

Admittedly, the recipe is heavy on eggs. We go through a LOT of eggs. But for growing bodies (and athletic children), the protein can't be beat. The ratio of protein to carbohydrate is excellent...there is no hydrogenated fats (just check that box of your pancake mix!!!!) -- in fact the only fat is what's used to keep it from sticking to the pan -- and if you can get whole wheat flour in the white version, you have a healthy source of fiber as well.

Now, I just need to tinker with the recipe so it does muffins too....