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Family, as in, my children will eat them. Not all are actual “family” recipes, as in, handed down from generation to generation. I get stuck a bit in the kitchen. I used to run a meal planning link up for, what, six months, last year? You can hop over to the eating section on the blog and see it all! When faced with the daunting task of feeding three kids and one ravenous husband, I want to retreat to the pantry to eat cereal myself. Once this intense feeling passes, I gird my loins and dish out a few of these. 1) Pasta with homemade sauce. Don’t get overwhelmed by seeing “homemade sauce”–the sauce is so simple and just takes a few hours. It’s the planning ahead part that’s hard–not the making of it. Simmer chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh) in olive oil and salt for a few hours, adding a hint of water or broth if it’s burning up. Season with oregano and basil and tons of shredded part. Brown beef and season with salt & pepper & those other things as well. Angel hair + combine. Oh, and butter. 2. Red quinoa with sausage & peppers. Recipe here. 3) Chicken noodle soup with amped up yogurt. Recipe here. 4) Rice + protein + mango + tomatoes. Cook rice. Cook meat or tofu. Combine! Spritz with lemon! 5) Pizza. Recipe here. Kinda. It’s evolved. But we use this crust. 6) Beef chili. (grainy iPhone pic!) Recipe here. 7) Monster salads. Butter or…
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I grew up with three sisters and a younger brother. I’m the fourth of five. The baby girl. Accustomed to never getting my way as a child, but interested in everything my sisters did (curling hair? wearing glasses! doing homework! listening to the Indigo Girls? yes, yes, yes, yes). Somehow I always assumed we’d have tons of girls and *maybe* a boy in there. The ultrasound tech telling us that the baby was a BOY at 20 weeks with our oldest made me kinda faint inside. Boys equal noise, no snuggling, video games, rough housing, and running away from their moms. That’s what I thought. And my brother is a great guy, so I don’t even know where I came up with these ideas about little boys. I was terrified. Now I watch my daughter, almost four!, sandwiched between her brothers and I can’t imagine it any other way for her. Yes, she can throw an elbow or erupt with a screeching growl like none other. Literally, her throat makes noises that could scare a wild boar. But she likes it this way. She does long for a sister “a baby one she can hold all the time,” but she loves her boys. So much for how we think our children will be, or how our lives will go. We really don’t know, do we? And that’s truly part of the beauty of it. I can control so much (and so little) of my life. Who my kids are and…
Read MoreIt’s been a spring break from nature school so we’ve been out at the Lodge (#wholeparentinglodge on instagram), living it up with lots of daily dairy (the property is situated in a dairy valley, so, appropriate), me sewing during naps, and hiking while carrying the toddler who is certain he can walk safely in the forrest (false) more than any sane mid thirties mom wants to. My sewing for sanity project (my sanity, yes, that’s what we’re talking about) over at Whole Parenting Goods launched our summer leggings! With a new surprise accompanying them. :: headbands to match! My new summer offering! $5 and ship free with other purchases. My very reluctant model. When I’m out here with the kids, we eat lightly. Mostly things like this. pancake recipe here. bacon + avocado + colby cheese on whole wheat toast. I ATE TWO. And the few thoughts I’ve been able to string together revolve around being conscious of when I stretch to do and be for my kids and when I pause and recharge myself. Out here, it’s kinda non-stop supervising, especially when we’re outdoors, so I’m very deliberate about post-bedtime being recharge! If I don’t do the dishes, I don’t care. If I don’t pick up the toys, likewise, don’t care. My me-time is all mine! And then when I’m with them, I don’t resent the perpetual needs and interruptions. Being an at-home mom for me has been this journey of figuring out how much I can give without going…
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I could go on and on about how my kids have all cried and tantrummed so much this week. I could go on and on about how I’m tired and my husband has worked long hours and I just want takeout forever. But as I was mentally composing the most whiney mom first world complaint post ever, it hit me. I’m the problem here, not my circumstances. My kids have had a rough week, every single three of them. That’s developmentally normal. It’s spring; they’re squirrelly. But what’s not normal is that I’m not handling it well. I scream. I shout. I really really lose it. Over little, normal things. Yes, but Nell, you seem like this is just hard all the time. Didn’t you just write about this a few weeks ago, this hardship thing? That’s what happens when you have three young kids. And you really want more? That’s either the devil on my shoulder or what I think every person in my life thinks about me and my life, my wheel of un-changing fatigue and depletion as a mom. And I’m not even nursing or pregnant right now! How do I have cause to be so crabby? So short-tempered? Maybe because I think I’m not supposed to have hard times–I’m supposed to be bouncing through a field of daisies with my sweet little kids in tow. Because if I say it’s not like that, I am afraid of the criticism above. Instead of writing a post sharing…
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I had the great privilege of being a guest on the Jennifer Fulwiler show on the Catholic channel on Sirius XM radio the other week. Afterwards, I felt so chagrinned. We were talking about living out the Pope’s latest encyclical, Laudato Si, and I totally lost my notes beforehand and experienced major mommy brain during and couldn’t summon up all the thoughts I’d had about the topic. Jen, will you ever let me back on the air??? But we did confirm that despite not compost toileting, you’re probably holier than Haley, right? 😉 The reason I wanted to talk with her in the first place was that upon reading the encyclical, I felt panicked. I need my heat! I need my a/c! Pope Francis seems to ask things we can’t do as normal American moms of many! So after thinking about it, here’s my list of ways to live out environmental stewardship as a midwest mom of many who can’t live out the beautiful organic farmer life that I pine for secretly in my dreams. (But then I’d have to give up our ancestral home and I don’t think I can do that!!) 1) Recycle. I’m pretty sure everyone does this. At least, I thought everyone did before I went to law school and met so many people who simply didn’t. Maybe their city didn’t collect it without a fee. Maybe their county didn’t promote it. Maybe they simply hadn’t given it much thought. Paper. Cardboard. Glass. Certain plastics. The greatest city…
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a few new things up in the shop this week. My mind has been so preoccupied with the suffering of my dear friends Laura and Franco and the loss of their twin baby girls. Please keep this beautiful family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this breathtaking landscape of love and loss. So the whole week has been a bit of a wandering. SuperBoy also has had a persistent cough/phlegm attack so he hasn’t been to his three times a week afternoon nature school. BabyLoves was up a few nights coughing (is there anything more sad than a toddler’s coughing?) so everything felt sideways. 1) Day in the Life linkup at Simple Homeschool. Link here. I LOVE reading how other at home homeschooling mamas’ days go. I’m kinda a faker as he’ll go to Catholic school next year, but I’m still in the category technically! One of the big perks of blogger life is that your days are exposed in an intimate way (can be intimidating) that connects your hearts with other moms sharing those burdens and joys. 2) Inheritance. I’ve NEVER ever ever listened to Christian music. Sorry, bad Catholic here. Just not my thing. Ever. But this album by Audrey Assad, whom I’m privileged to work with at Blessed is She (Catholic women’s daily devotional ministry): wow. It’s called Inheritance and it’s on repeat. The kids love it and my heart throbs along with How can I keep from singing? especially. Buy // download // support a mama…
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