First Day... Hooray!

Howie got on the big yellow bus for the first time today.  

He is so excited about going to school.  

He loves everything about it... 

the tasks, the pencils, the computer lab, the gym classes, the book making, drawing, playing...  

This child was born to go to school.  

SMOYFest

"Going round and round... it takes us up and it takes us down.  

I love the sights and I love the sounds. 

Riding on the wonderwheel..."

We are lucky enough to have a great church right across the street from our neighborhood.  And they throw this AMAZING festival each year... SMOYFest.  The family walks over to enjoy the lights, sounds, games and rides.  The boys were in heaven as they had watched the rides and booths being put together during the previous week.  The anticipation was high and the weather was perfect!!

A neighbor friend!!

Sno-Cones! 

Who is the biggest kid here?

Soccer

Howie played soccer at a church camp. 

Think he had fun?  

Bread

Here is the recipe that I use to lovingly make bread for my 6 year old each week.  Being free of almost anything mainstream, I want to post it here to have for an easy reference.

Gluten Free Buns

Wet Ingredients:

2 cups hot water
1 packet of yeast
1 tsp ground cane sugar

2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS local honey
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup psyllium husks

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups gluten free flour (mixture of garbanzo bean flour, millet flour and sorghum flour)
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preparations:

Mix together the water, yeast and cane sugar in large measuring cup.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients in the mixer that Mom so kindly is letting me borrow.

After 10 minutes of resting the yeast, add the rest of the wet ingredients to the large measuring cup.  Whisk.  Let sit for 2-3 minutes.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in the mixer.  Shape bread into hamburger-patty-lookin' things on a pan greased with coconut oil.  Put a hot towel over the top and let it sit for 30 minutes to allow the yeast to rise.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

**Howie enjoys eating these in the following ways: as a bun for a chicken and mustard sandwich, toasted with butter and cinnamon for breakfast, or just plain when he has a hungry belly that just won't fill up.  

New Shoes

Howie is tying his shoes these days...

Hooray!

Cute Stuff Johnny Says

These days, Johnny has some pretty funny sayings.  Here are a few:

Instead of speed bumps, he calls them deer bumps, as in, "Look Mommy, lots of deer bumps!"

At times, he likes to refer to Howie in the third person.  He will say things like, "My brother not like that," or "My brother mad at me."

In the morning when he wants to get up for the day, he often asks, "Is it up time?"

Nature Center

We are loving the Cincinnati Nature Center these days.  My boys have evolved into creatures that need their open space to run and jump.  Thus, the nature center is a perfect place for us.  Lucky us, Nonnie and Paw Paw enjoy it too so we get to explore with them.

(I love that Johnny has the telescope backwards to look at the leaves)

Hi Baby Jack!

Happy Birthday Johnny!

My little boy turns three this year.  

What a fun age to celebrate!  

Being a full-throttle boy, Johnny wants a monster truck party.  We put together a fun afternoon of trucks, mud and lots of crashing about.  

This is the first year he really understood that he was having a party.  Everyday up to the party, he would startle and exclaim, "Mom, we forgot my monster truck party."  I had to reassure him many times that his party was not forgotten, just still coming up.  

I think he would tell you it was worth the wait too.  He got a full spotlight from so many people who love him and basked in all the attention.  

Although, ask him how old he is and he's still not sure.  

He might whisper, "Six?" or hold up four fingers.  

I love that he is still my little guy for a bit longer.  

Happy Birthday Johnny...

We love you!

Happy 6th Birthday Howie!

We celebrate Howie's 6th Birthday with BUGS!  He has been planning on his bug party for a few months now and *together*, he and I pulled it off.

We made bug decorations, thought of some simple hats for the guests to make, dreamed up a few games (pin the spider on the web and bug relay races with butterfly nets), made signs for the party, baked "safe" chocolate chip muffins for everyone to enjoy- even the birthday boy- and had some fun, bonding time over the event.  

The budget?  

I didn't keep as close of tabs on it this year as I did last year.  

But my estimations were around the $35 mark.  

The most important thing for the preparations this year was... doing it together.  

By including my 6 year old in the planning, things didn't look quite as polished, 

but the final product was quality time together which is much more important. 

He was energized by spending time over the details with me. 

And it turned out great. 

Looking for bugs in the backyard.

Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

We are going more and more gluten-free these days.  The following is a recipe I created to make carrot muffins that are gluten-free... and edible!  Go figure.  They also happen to be free of any milk, eggs, soy, corn, and artificial dyes.

In attempt to get my kids to consume less sugar and more veggies, I modified an already yummy recipe to include honey instead of cane sugar and carrots instead of applesauce.

Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups gluten free bread mixture (garbanzo bean flour, millet flour and sorghum flour)

½ cup tapioca flour

2 tsp baking powder (I make my own that uses ingredients to avoid corn)

1 ½ tsp arrowroot

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 ¼ cup steamed and pureed carrots (using Vitamix)

½ cup local honey

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients in mixer.  Whisk wet ingredients in bowl.  Combine wet and dry ingredients in mixer.

Grease mini-muffin tin with coconut oil.  Place batter in muffin tin.  Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes. 

Yummy to eat with SunButter, Almond Butter or Peanut Butter.  

Now if you will excuse me... I have to go intercept Johnny as he is grabbing muffins off the counter and consuming them faster than I can make them. 

Wiggly Teeth

We are approaching that magical phase of life when teeth start to wiggle and the Tooth Fairy comes to visit at night.  While we are still waiting for Howie's first loose tooth, he and I prepare by making a tooth-fairy-certified pillow.
As my BFF says, "The tooth thing sneaks up on you.  Be ready."
Such great wisdom.  

We chose the fabric, Howie cut out the monster's teeth and chose the buttons for eyes, and together we make the lower lip a pocket for the treasures.  

And Poof!  

In an afternoon, we have a pillow all ready for our Tooth Fairy friend to leave some goodies.  

Now, back to wiggling those teeth...

Spring is Here!

Let the backyard picnics begin.