3squares_a_day

I love the colors... Back row is dill beans, dill slices, pomegranate jelly, dill spears, pickled green tomatoes. Middle row is pear sauce, pickled beets, applesauce and tomatoes. Front is cranberry sauce, peach jam, apple butter, fig jam and blackberry jam.

Well, this year has been kind of odd, birthday wise. I am 41 today. Scott's last day at work was today, he got a lay-off notice a month ago. It's scary to be on this roller coaster (again)! We have faith that, in the end, all will be well, but I wholeheartedly wish this was not happening...

Kids are well, Quinn turned 12 last month, Sage is driving with his learner's permit (and is as tall as me now and has a squeaky voice!) and Iris is growing up way too fast! The garden is still producing peppers and tomatoes but it's time to pull everything, amend the soil and start again. Past time, actually, and yeah, I totally get the way that relates to the job situation. :)

So, yeah. Oh, and Quinn and I canned a lot this summer... There is nothing quite so satifying as the sound the jars make when they seal! Pickled green beans, pickles, fig jam, strawberry jam, strawberry fig jam, blackberry jam, peach-plum jam, apple sauce, pear sauce, apple butter and tomatoes. I don't think I'll do tomatoes again, though, it was too much work for the amount of final product!

Some of the fruit of our labor:

Quinn had me cut her hair today. She is donating the length, she looks really good with shorter hair.

Before:

After:

The garden has exploded. I go out there every morning and every evening to water and explore, usually accompanied by one or two of the kids, and it has changed and grown every time. The melons have far surpassed their 6 foot trellis in height, the tomato plants are almost taller than me and the bees and butterflies are always flying around. It truly brings me joy and peace to be out there and I am trying not to dwell on the regret of waiting so long to get one going at this house. ( The lush green life is amazing )

I've been busy with:







Kids, Vacation Bible School, swimming, gardening, canning, etc, etc. I am still alive!

My parents and I took the kids to the museum in San Francisco, it was amazing! Here are a few highlights:


Me, Sage and my dad

Rain forest Dome


Girls

Fishing Spider

Eel(By Sage)

The living roof, which Quinn said looks like the place Teletubbies live

It's the beginning of Lent all ready! We got all of our stuff figured out... What we are sacrificing, what we are giving and what kind of extra prayer we are doing. The girls are collecting money for a mom and baby program, Sage is going to give up all beverages except water for 2 weeks and collect money for The H20 Project, http://www.theh2oproject.org which helps provide clean water for drinking. Lent is always a good time for me to make positive changes, I get kind of excited and feel empowered by it!

I am leaving in the morning for the L.A. Religious Education Congress, it's going to be awesome but Iris is not happy that I'll be gone so long, I won't be back until Monday night.

Lots of cooking going on, not much in the way of photography though.

We are planning a huge garden ala Square Foot Gardening and I am really jazzed about that. I used to have a garden, before I married Scott, and I can't wait to pick produce!

Yesterday we went to a living history event called American Heritage Days. It's the first event I've attended at a funeral home! It was a lot of fun, though. Did you know that George Washington never had wooden teeth? He did, however, have dentures made out of cow teeth and later, out of hippo tusks... I have a photo on my cell phone but have to wait for Scott to get it off there. We also learned that a lot of women served alongside their husbands during the Revolutionary War, they just didn't get paid. Figures!

In the afternoon, Quinn and I made pita bread for the first time. It was actually very good and pretty easy, though too tasty while hot and our bellies were full of pita and falafel at dinner.

Sage Christopher was born 15 years ago. He taught me so much about attachment parenting! He was this scary smart toddler, he was obsessed with the Titanic when he was 5 and could tell you all about it. He would carry this huge book around with him that had photos and letters from survivors, people thought we were nuts. We have deep philosophical conversations and he cracks me up when he's not rolling his eyes... He is an amazing young man and I'm very blessed to be his mom.

He chose Indian food for dinner. The samosas were from frozen, the pakora I made. (I usually bake it but he requested fried. Extra gym this week!) The rice was cooked with cardamom pods and peas and we had chole on the side. I am stuffed!

Epiphany is near! We've enjoyed celebrating the entire Christmas season for the past few years, so we didn't put our tree up until our Christmas Eve. We'll keep it up until the Three Kings come. :)

Christmas breakfast:



My Mother-in-law is the greatest gift this Christmas. She is doing very well! She has some permanent vision loss and won't be driving again, and she still struggles with things, but she is alive, well and happy.

My friend Christie takes amazing photos. Here are a few of my favorites from our Christmas photo shoot.



Iris (5)



Quinn (11)



Sage (15 next month)



This one cracks me up.

The girls, my dad and I made cookies today. When I was a young adult my dad and his dad got together every Christmas season and baked for a day, and it was a big baking, decorating, tasting party. I missed it a lot after my grandpa died in 1999, and it was really exciting to start the tradition up again. We made and decorated cookies for almost 6 hours and my feet are killing me! My dad was kind enough to use dairy free substitutes and we used egg replacer for the royal icing. My dad rocks!!

My dad has my grandma's old Sunbeam stand mixer. It was fun to use, but I learned the hard way that you have to go slow when making icing until all the sugar is mixed in. There was a fine coat of powdered sugar dust on everything, including my glasses! That mixer still works like a charm, amazingly enough, and it is at least 40 years old.

I have no photos so just imagine boxes full of candy cane cookies, Christmas crescents, gingerbread hearts and people, and sugar cookies. Also, imagine the sugar cookies iced with various colors and sprinkles in completely random and sometimes scary ways. :)

Oscar is our boy rat, (he's neutered so we don't have any baby rats) and he took a waxed paper sandwich bag and fashioned a sleeping bag out of it, smart boy! :) He has siamese markings, pink eyes and a winning personality.

Scott just got done making blueberry pancakes for dinner. Got to run!

I LOVE salad. I eat it daily, sometimes twice. Annie's Goddess dressing is my favorite right now, but I dilute it to suit me better and to make it last... Fall salads are the best with the deep colors and rich flavors. This one is pretty standard for me, mixed greens with beets and persimmons, and sometimes I throw nuts on top too.




It was kind of funny, after my girls spent the weekend with friends and were spoiled rotten, both requested big salads for breakfast when they got back. I get the same way after I've traveled or had catered meals for a few days. GREENS!

Since I don't eat turkey, Thanksgiving is pie day for me! I made pumpkin pie, the girls helped with the pumpkins, and they were wonderful! (Guess what I had for breakfast?)



We started the day off when Scott dropped my parents, Sage, Quinn and I off so we could do the Run To Feed the Hungry. It benefits the Sacramento Food Bank and there were about 28,000 participants! We did the 5K, it was so energizing to be surrounded by people who were there to help others and to have fun! It was quite a festive mood, there were bands along the route playing in driveways and lots of people in turkey hats and other holiday attire.

A week and a half ago we went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm, the Disneyland of pumpkin farms around here. We had a blast. We rode a train, had a hayride, played and slid and panned for marbles and got lost in a cornmaze... We came home with pumpkins, and butternut squash that were only $2 each.


( click here )

I was up for a bit before I started taking photos.No warnings, unless cute kids and rats creep you out. ( Trying to be a woman of few words )

If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!

Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal.
01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favourite and least favourite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

I've been looking at websites and reading books about taking clothing and making something new out of it. I have had a skirt in my closet for a few years that I love, color wise and fabric wise, but it didn't flatter me. I took it, cut some off one side, used the scraps to make straps and sewed it all up. It's so cute! She loves it, too, I was afraid the zipper on the other side would bug her but it doesn't.

She's got a hair thing going on. lol




I have been lax about food photos, everything is still hectic and I am at the hospital 5 days out of 7. Here is a pic of bowties with pesto and roasted veggies:



Sage went to jazz camp again this year and had a blast... He wasn't a fan of the food, though, so he ate non-stop for the first 48 hours he was home! Here he is with his best friend, Jacob, who was in his band this summer at camp:

I bake.

I have taken oatmeal raisin cookies, strawberry muffins and zucchini bread to the hospital staff, so far. I had to stop myself yesterday, my pants are not going to fit if I keep it up.

My mother-in-law is doing ok, they are moving her to an acute rehabilitation facility in the next day or two. Still nothing on the right side is working and the speech is greatly affected... She will have occupational, physical and speech therapy at the acute rehab place, a minimum of 3 hours a day, so we can get her brain working/ rewiring itself as much as possible. I've been relying on family and my best friend to keep the girls busy so I can spend as much time helping them as I can, and Scott has taken time off as he can.

Iris has finally responded to all the stress by having potty accidents today, after 2 years of being in panties. *SIGH* Sage is at Jazz Camp and Quinn is doing ok so far.

Now, for cupcakes...