The Ledleys

Menu Planning

2010-09-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

So every Sunday I sit down and menu plan. It's not an option, it helps both our budget and my sanity! If I don't have much time I will just pick some of the old faithful recipes we tend to have frequently. If I have more time I will look for some new recipes in magazines or online.

I've gotten into the rhythm of cooking with 3 little ones, however my mornings are much more rushed than they used to be so if something needs started early in the day or thawed I often don't even give it a thought until the kiddos are down for their naps at 1. So I'm going to try to type out my menu plan on Sundays and type in some notes of when to start thawing or soaking something. We will see how this goes!

Monday - Cobb Salads
Notes: Start hard boiled eggs and chicken broth at lunch time

Tuesday - Chicken, rice and veggie in crock pot
Notes: Put dinner in crock pot in the am
Grind and soak flour for muffins

Wednesday -Chicken salad sandwiches and pasta salad (from Kiwi Mag.)

Thursday - Garlic lime shrimp with corn and black bean salad (from Kiwi Mag)
Notes: Grind and soak flour for pancakes

Friday - Tacos
Notes: Thaw beef in the am

Helpful Hands

2010-08-04T09:00:00.001-07:00

How many people does it take to change the diaper of a 1 week old?

In our house, a minimum of 3 :)

Jack gets the wipes, Soraya gets the diaper, mommy gets the baby.
Soraya undoes the tabs, Jack hands mommy a wipe, mommy has clean up duty.
Soraya opens the new diaper, mommy places under baby, Soraya secures the new diaper in place.
Jack throws away the dirty diaper and runs back in the room yelling "I did it!"

I'm loving everyone's willingness to help and the joy it brings them to help take care of their baby sister.

My little underwear model

2010-06-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Jack was wearing some Spiderman undies the other day and he looked so cute I thought I'd take a few pics. Who knew he would be such the underwear model :)

Macaroni and Cheese to Feed a Crowd

2010-04-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

Macaroni and Cheese
From Maureen Diaz in Wholesome Home Cooking

2 lbs brown rice elbow macaroni, cooked
1 c. soft butter
1 c. arrowroot flour
1/4 c. dry mustard
2 Tbs sea salt
1/2 gallon raw milk
40 oz raw milk cheese, Shredded

Drain the pasta and put in large bowl. Add soft butter, mix well. Combine arrowroot, mustard, salt and 2 cups milk. Add rest of milk, then pour into the pasta. Mix together well, then add cheese. Divide into pans, freeze in portions or bake at 350 for 35 minutes. (It is recommended to to half bake what will be frozen.)

I'm posting this for my sister who is searching for a good homemade macaroni and cheese recipe. This is a fabulous meal to make just before having a baby as it makes 4 9x13 pans of mac and cheese! So eat one and freeze 3 for post baby meals.

Thinking of...

2010-02-26T12:20:00.000-08:00

Warmth ~Sunshine~ Backyard

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

2010-02-09T12:12:00.001-08:00

Sometimes in the midst of a snow storm you just feel like baking. Why is that? My mother called me for a healthier blueberry muffin recipe. So I thought I would share it with everyone, incase someone else feels like making blueberry muffins too! I'm now thinking about whipping up a batch myself!

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Beat in a large bowl:
2 eggs
1/2 c olive oil

Add in and beat:
1 1/4 c sucanat
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c sour cream or plain yogurt

Slowly add in and beat:
2 c spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Stir in:
1 c blueberries

Bake on 375 for:
25 minutes - frozen berries
20 minutes - fresh berries

Yield:12 Muffins

Christmas Morning

2010-01-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was the first year we woke up in our own home on Christmas morning! So I thought I should at least document with some pictures :) We had a lovely quite morning where Soraya enjoyed opening presents and getting things out of her stocking. Jack was pretty busy and preoccupied with other things...so Soraya got to open his presents as well :)

Sweet Potato Souffle

2009-12-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my new favorite recipes! It's great for the holidays, so I thought I would post it here to share (and so that I don't lose it!!)

Sweet Potato Souffle (from allrecipes.com and edited by me :)

Ingredients
3 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon white sugar (I use maple syrup instead)
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar (I use maple syrup instead)
1 cup heavy cream
5 eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Bake sweet potatoes in the oven at 375 for a few hours, until soft.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 2 quart souffle dish. Sprinkle dish with 1 tablespoon maple syrup, shaking dish to evenly coat bottom and sides.
Place the sweet potatoes into the bowl of a kitchenaid mixer. Add the butter, 3/4 cup maple syrup, heavy cream, eggs, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Process until mixture is smooth. Pour into prepared souffle dish.
Bake the sweet potato mixture in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake the sweet potato mixture until edges are slightly browned, about 40 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Break Dancing Jack

2009-11-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

The Yummiest Pumpkin Pie

2009-11-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

We've been making many many pumpkin foods as of late. But our favorite is for sure this pumpkin pie recipe!!

Filling (from The Pumpkin Cookbook)
1 pumpkin, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 cup cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbs spelt flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Cook the pumpkin. I cut it in half and bake in a glass baking dish, face down in a bit of water. It takes about an hour on 350. Once pumpkin is cooked, scoop out seeds and throw away. Then scoop the flesh away from the skin and process in a food processor, blender or I sometimes just use my kitchen aid mixer.

2. In a bowl combine pumpkin, cream, eggs, maple syrup, flour and spices and beat until evenly combined.

For the crust I use the Incredibly Good and Easy Pie Crust from Wholesome Homecooking.
1 1/4 c spelt flour
1/8 c maple syrup
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 c butter (I have accidentally doubled the butter before..talk about fabulous!)
2 oz cream cheese

In a bowl, whisk together flour, sweetener and salt. In a mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together well, scraping sides of bowl once or twice. Add flour mixture to butter/cheese mixter in mixer bowl. Combine at medium low until crumbly, like coarsse cornmeal. Scrape down bowl and mix at medium high until dough forms large clumps, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to a greased pie plate. Pat out with the palm of your hand evenly. Distribute up the sides of the plate.

Pour in pumpkin mixture. Bake on 400 for 30 minutes.

We like to buy some heavy whipping cream, whip it in the mixer then add to the pie before eating :) Enjoy!!

Cookies

2009-10-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

Soraya's big birthday bash is next week. I can't believe she is 3!!

She is super excited. She had to make it through Jack, Mommy and Gus' birthday parties before getting to hers. We took her to a party store to pick out her plates. Going in she said she wanted Blues Clues. But after considering Little Einsteins, she chose Cinderella. Just could resist :)

So everytime I ask her what she wants to eat at her party she says "a cookie" which sounds a lot like turkey. Soraya hasn't ever been much of a cake fan, so we are going with it.

Her birthday is on Wednesday so we are having our neighbors over with their 3 girls, Maysun, Adelaide, and Imogene. We are having a taco bar and the much requested peanut butter cookie (without any refined sugars or flours of course :)

Then on Saturday all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are coming up for a grand birthday brunch with a giant chocolate chip cookie (no refined flours or sugars once again :)

So here are some pics of us practicing our cookie making :)

Apple Orchard

2009-10-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to an apple orchard a few days ago. We went with a friend Julie and her son Trevor. We walked up the the older gentleman in charge, each of us with a one year old on our hip, me holding Soraya's hand and Julie being 8 months pregnant. So the gentleman just looked at us...so I said, "We are wondering about the pick your own apples" and he just looked at us quite perplexed...so I said, "Can we pick our own apples?" And he gaves us a concerned look again and asked how we thought we'd pick our own with the babies around (meanwhile, there are tons of already picked apples on the table behind him). I said, "oh, we will figure it out thats no problem. We have strollers and back packs..we are good...so how do we pick our own apples.

So the man gave us our bags and proceeded to explain which trees were ready to be picked. They had Johnathon apples, the best for applesauce making, and Ira red, red delicious, and yellow delicious.

We had a wonderful time picking apples. After awhile Jack was down walking around, getting covered in the dew covered freshly cut grass, as you can see in the picture he dropped his apple quite a few times :) Soraya loved it and didn't want to leave (as usual). After awhile Jack was down walking around, getting covered in the dew covered freshly cut grass, as you can see in the picture he dropped his apple quite a few times :)

The next day we had apples fried in butter with cinnamon for breakfast and applesauce as a snack. Tonight will be an apple crisp per Chad's request :)

My Man

2009-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say...nor much time to write anymore. But all I can say is it just doesn't get any cuter that this :)

The best little girl a mommy could ask for

2009-09-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

I have the absolute best little girl a mommy could ask for. I had terrible neck pain the last few days, went to the chiropracter and was feeling better. Took the kids to the YMCA today, and while there it felt like I got a pinched nerve in my neck. My vision got all blurry and then came the headache.

We got home and everyone fed and I said let's go upstairs Soraya and get Jack ready for his nap. She said, then I can watch Sesame Street! I said, well actually you are going to go night-night when Jack does so that mommy can lay down too. I have a terrible headache. She said ok. Once upstairs she says, "mommy, if your neck hurts you should go back to the doctor. You know who will be there? Colin's daddy and he will make your head feel all better." (Our good friend Colin's dad is our chiropractor)

So I proceed to go in all the bedrooms (including mine) and shut the windows and close the blinds. I hear Soraya in her room say to Jack, "It's night night time buddy." She then starts cleaning up all of her toys. Jack pulled one back off the shelf and she got upset. So I went and got Jack and told him we were going to clean up his toys then he was going to bed. Then next thing I know I hear Soraya yell, "Night night mommy!" And she closes her door and hops in bed! I put Jack in bed then checked on her and sure enough she was in bed falling asleep.

What a darling! Some times I don't think I deserve such an wonderful daughter :)

BFF

2009-09-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Soraya's BFF, Willow is moving to Costa Rica in two days. We are having a farwell open house at our place tomorrow evening for everyone to stop in and bid the Hendersons farewell. Soraya is sad...but doesn't really understand what is going on and where Costa Rica really is. I am sad for her, but I know they will be back in a year or 5 and can resume their friendship.

I am sad for myself, as Jess and I are really good friends and spent a lot of time together...especially since she lived a block away. The dynamics of our relationship is changing drastically but the nature of our relationship will remain the same. We are partakers in the Life of Christ. We are members of the Body of Christ and therefore relate to one another in Spirit and Truth...a change in physical location can change none of that.

End of Summer

2009-08-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well...frankly...I haven't felt like blogging much latley. Maybe it is because I feel the end of summer drawing near and am trying to soak up the last bits of it. So here are some summer fun pics...

Sour Cream Blueberry Cake

2009-08-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

We threw a little graduation party for Chad this past weekend while at the lake. Chad picked the dessert he wanted me to make for him and he picked Sour Cream Blueberry Cake. Despite this being a healthy cake, it recieved rave reviews (and my mom asked me to send her the recipe) So here is the recipe:

Sour Cream Blueberry Cake

Mix, then set aside to sprinkle over top before baking:

1/2 c. sucanat

1 Tbs melted butter

In a seperate bowl:

1/2c. butter

1 c sucanat

1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 c spelt flour

1 c sour cream

1 1/2 c blueberries

Cream butter and sucanat. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients and sour cream alternately. Stir in blueberries. Put in a well greased casserole size of cake pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

I doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13 pan.

From the recipe book: Wholesome Home Cooking by Katie Stoltzfus

My Baby Boy

2009-08-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby Buddy :) My little man turned 1 today.

Incredibly good and easy pie crust

2009-08-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a fabulous tastey and easy pie crust I have been using. I really like it because you don't have to roll it out then get it off the counter with out tearing it...you just press it in the pie pan :) This is taken from Wholesome Home Cooking by Katie Stoltzfus. Favorite cookbook ever!

This recipe makes 2 crusts.

2 1/2 c sprouted spelt flour
1/4 c sucanat or maple syrup
1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

1 c soft, but still cool raw butter
4 oz organic cream cheese

In a bowl, whisk together flour, sweetener and salt. In a mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together well, scraping sides of bolw once or twice. Add flour mixture to butter/cheese mixture in mixer bowl. Combine at medium low until crumbly, like coarse cornmeal. Scrape down bowl and mix at medium high until dough forms large clumps, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to 2 greased pie plates, pat out with palm of your hand evenly.

The Gorge

2009-07-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well, after a rainy morning and a cranky Jack, I decided we needed a post afternoon nap excursion. So we packed a picnic dinner and headed out to The Gorge in Cuyogoga Valley National Park. We had never been thre before and thought it sounde like a nice adventure. Well, as soon as we go here we realized the trail leading to the gorge was 1. 3 miles. We knew the kids would never make it round trip. So we headed down the trail to the fishing dock. It wasn't too long of a walk and we arrived at the fishing dock. Soraya loved seeing all of the water!

After looking around for a bit we decided to head back toward the car to set up our picnic dinner. Everyone enjoyed their food. Jack had his favorite food, custard, and he just couldn't sit still!

After eating, Soraya wanted to see the fishing dock one more time so we put Jack in the backpack this time and took one final stroll. It was a fun adventure and when the kids are a little older we will certainly take the long hike to the Gorge!

Best Buds

2009-07-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

The kids are finally becoming best buddies and it is SO cute to see! They will chase each other around the house, take turns dropping things and laughing and give each other kisses. I absolutly love it!

Raw Milk

2009-07-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Much better than I ever could have said it:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/10-reasons-drink-raw-milk/

My baby girl

2009-06-23T04:32:00.000-07:00

When you are raising the most beautiful 2 year old possible..and you've spend nearly every one of her days with her...it is the weirdest feeling to be apart for 6 days. Hope she is enjoying this special time with both sets of her grandparents. I'm trying to enjoy myself :)

A beautiful day at the zoo

2009-06-19T11:26:00.001-07:00

It rained and stormed all morning and it was still cloudy and cool when we took off for the zoo at 11:30 this morning. Perfect weather for the zoo! Not many people go on days like that :) We were celebrating Chad's last test in LPN school. He has 2 days of clinicals next week and a practice NCLX-LPN then he is done!! So we are members of the Akron Zoo and go almost once a week and Soraya just loves it. Today she chose to wear her hat (she NEVER wants to wear hats let alone ask to wear one!) and then proceeded to actually wear it for 2 hours! Then she also shockingly wore her sunglasses the whole time too! We always carry our sunglasses with us wherever we go, but never wear them. Well today was the big day and she wore them too :) She also picked out her outfit today, not half bad I must say :) So all in all a good day at the zoo. I love it when Chad gets to come along. Much easier on mom when it is a one to one ratio :)

Soraya showing us how big the condor's wings are and Chad holding Soraya up to see the llamas.

Soraya always puts her shoes on by herself. Gets them on the right feet 25% of the time. Chad thought they should be on the right feet for all of the walking at the zoo.

Baby Mozart

2009-06-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

Peach Crisp and Baked Oatmeal

2009-06-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

We tried a few new recipes at the lake the past weekend that were a hit. Cousin Brad said, "this is the best breakfast I've had at the lake this summer!" That was in reference to the baked oatmeal. And the Peach Crisp was a hit too! Both recipes are free of refined sugars and flours.

Peach or Apple Crisp

1/4 c maple syrup or honey

2 T. tapioca starch or arrowroot flour

4 c. sliced peaches or apples

Topping:

3/4 c. oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c. shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 c. melted butter

Mix together sweetener and starch,, pour over fruit and mix thoroughly. Put in square glass pan. Combine topping ingredients and put on fruit. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. (We doubled this and used a 13x9 pan and used half maple syrup and half honey)

Baked Oatmeal

6 c organic rolled oats

1 cup honey

2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

5 cups raw milk (more if you use it to soak oats too)

2/3 c coconut oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

In a bowl combine rolled oats and raw milk or plain yogurt. Use enough to get all the oats wet. Soak overnight up to 24 hours on the counter.

In a large bowl, combine rest of ingredients. Then mix together with oats/milk/yogurt mixture. Pour into greased 9x13 baking pan.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Serve with additional milk, yogurt, butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit or whipped cream as needed.

I also like to add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and/or pumpkin pie spice before baking!

Jack Laughing

2009-06-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent another weekend at the lake. Jack just thought cornhole was the funniest game ever!! Sorry for the video being sideways...it took waaaaaay too long to upload for me to have any interest in fixing it!

Swimming

2009-06-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Swimming has become a daily afternoon activity! Now that it is warm enough, we fill up the pool each morning to have a nice warm pool of water for the kids to play in. Jack LOVES splashing around in the water. And even though there are only a few inches of water in the pool, all of the neighbor kids manage to end up soaked, yet still fully clothed. Who new a baby pool could be so much fun for kids of all ages :)

Big Girl Fort

2009-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Soraya has officially moved out of the crib. After a recent visit to Papa's Lake House, where she slept in a bunk bed with a railing, she moved in to her own bunk bed aka "fort." She has done wonderfully. I wanted to wait until she was old enough to have a discussion about staying in bed. She is such a great sleeper that I didn't want to loose those 11 hour nights and 3 hour naps! So, I just told her if she needs me to yell and I will come and check on her. When she wakes up and is ready to get up, yell and I will come get her. It's been a week no and the plan has worked like a dream! We haven't lost any sleep with the move, which is always a good thing :) So here are some pictures of her in her "fort." She has sooooo many toys in there its a wonder that there is any room left for her! Oh yeah, we have had one mishap. She fell out of bed at the foot of the bed as there is no railing there. She fell on some toys, one being a bucket of beads which was quite load at 1:30 in the morning. It startled me awake and the first the first thing I saw was Chad running out the door, man he is quick! She wasn't hurt but she was scared and didn't want to get back in, she said "Raya awake! Go downstairs!" But we showed her how we made a pillow baracade so tha it wouldn't happen again, got her some milk and sat on the potty and then she climbed in like a champ and went right back to sleep without a peep the rest of the night. She didn't even mention it in the morning, so I'm not even sure if she remembers it.

Oh, and one more funny story! The next night, I forgot to turn her fan on for background noise. So when Jack started crying for me to come and get him in the morning, as I walked by Soraya's room she was yelling, "Don't wake me up Bj! Don't wake me up!"
Too funny...

Opposites

2009-06-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

So my kids seem to be opposite in everything! From teething symptoms to sleep needs to staying or leaving...they can't ever get it in sync! And one more thing to add to the list is dogs! Jack LOVES dogs! He was around my sisters dogs for a few days last month and ever since he squeals everytime he seees one! Soraya on the other hand is...well...scared of dogs. She got ran over by a huge st. bernard/lab mix. She was just minding her own business and this huge dog, Cody, started chasing another dog and just plowed right into her full steam. She had quite the black eye from her head hitting the concrete first. That was just a bit over a year ago. So at first she was deathly affraid of any and all dogs. Now she just starts out a bit jumpy and reserved around them, but is getting better every day. She really likes the idea of dogs though. Here is Jack checking out my sister's dogs at the Lake over the weekend.

Happy Retirement Papa Gene!!

2009-06-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been told by a number of people that I've been blog slacking :) So I am trying to get back in the habit. We were out of town for a long weekend at the lake house so I have tons of pictures! I'm going to split them up into smaller posts though... The main reason for our trip was to celebrate Papa Gene's retirement from Honda! Today is his first full day of retirement...yipee Papa Gene! We, along with Chad's brother and his wife threw a little celebration for him so here are a few pictures from the event. Soraya was pretty wound up at the event...she is starting to shed her shyness around people she doesn't know. So she had a good time. Jack didn't nap too well that day, so he was a party pooper off and on...but all in all it was a good time. Papa Tom and Grandma Marj, left the party when it was bedtime for the kids so that Chad and I could stay longer and enjoy ourselves and assist in the clean-up. Also, a big congrats to Chad's cousin Laura and her husband Joe on their pregnancy! This was exciting news to me. Chad knew...but of course forgot to tell me :)

Surf and Turf Pasta

2009-05-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

I made this fabulous new recipe last night! Some people wanted me to share it with them so here it is. Last week at the library Chad strolled along so I actually got to go look for books for me! So I grabbed a few cookbooks. This recipe is from The Whole Foods Market Cookbook. I only marked a handful to try, so overall I don't think I would recommend purchasing this cookbook. But this first recipe was definitly a win so I will let you know if the others are just as tastey!

1 lb Penne Pasta ( I like to use brown rice pasta, it's gluten free and a bit easier to digest and still cooks up well. Not nearly as dense as whole wheat pasta either.

12 oz Sausage (I used 2 nitrate free sausage links)
1/8 c olive oil
1 cup diced red pepper

1 1/2 c cooked shrimp (I used 1 lb)
1/2 c roughly cut fresh basil
3/4 c Italian Herb Vinaigrette (We had an italian dressing from a local amish restraunte I used. I don't think I put in only 1/4 c as I didn't want it to dominate the flavor and I added a bit more olive oil to the finished product. I think next time I will make my own italian dressing)
20 Cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup diced fresh mozzarella

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch thick slices. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet, add the sausage, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning the slices, until just golden.
Stir in the red pepper and immediatly remove the pan from heat.
In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the sausage mixture, shrimp and basil. Blend well. Add the vinaigrette, and toss lightly. Gently stir in the tomatoes and mozzeralla.

Here is one happy food critic :)

By the way, I just added the Food label at the bottom of this post. So if you would like to see more recipes that I have posted just click on the Food link below :)

Papa Tom or Jack??

2009-05-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

My mother brought to my attention how much this picture of Jack looks like my dad when he was a baby...you don't really see the similarities in any of his other pictures...bu this one is dead on...so this one is a tribute to Papa Tom :)

The Zoo

2009-05-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Soraya and I had a wonderful trip to the zoo today. We were able to leave baby brother at home, so it was nice to have some one on one time with her. We don't get that much anymore. We went with a few neighbors and their sons, 18 months and 2 years, so it was a good time. Soraya LOVED feeding the sheep and lambs at the petting zoo. She got the biggest kick out of it. We also enjoyed the tiger and duckies. Small zoo, so no elephants or giraffes but still a good time had by all.

Chubby Buddy

2009-05-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

I just can't get over how cute this little guys is...

2 peas in a pod

2009-04-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about having more than one child is to see their interaction with one another. To have Soraya always asking were Baby Jack is if he isn't in the room with us. Or if he is fussing and I can get to him Soraya will run and tell him "don't be scared buddy, mommy will be here in a minute." Or Jack can be completly interested in a toy but as soon as his sister is in the room his eyes are on her and he is just squealing with joy. He loves when she plays "peeky boos" with him or tickles him. Or if he is in a bad room Soraya will jump around or fun by him really fast to cheer him up. Words just can't describe the joy it brings to see them building this brother-sister relationship.

Spring Hats

2009-04-22T10:21:00.001-07:00

You want to know the best way to get a strong minded 2 year old to wear a hat??

Put one one her baby brother :)

Shiney Shoes

2009-04-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I took Soraya shoe shopping. She needed some sneakers that she could really run around in and kick a ball. So we went to Target. She wanted all the sandles and crocs but when I showed her these shiney pink shoes she said "no likes it" well they were the closest thing to a sneaker I could find in her size so we got them anyway. I made her put them on to play outside that afternoon. She got SO many compliments that now she wants to wear her "shiney" shoes everywhere. Here she is modeling them.

Painting

2009-04-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Soraya has been into painting as of late. She got this easel from her Uncle Brandon and Aunt Carol for her 2nd birthday. She used it a lot at first then stopped for awhile but has recently found a new love for painting. It is going much better now that she is a tad bit older. Six months can make a huge difference. Here are some picture from her recent painting session that ended abruptly when she accidentally peed in the middle of the floor while painting. She didn't seem too embarrassed, even though Ben and Colin were watching, as she immediately started tapping her toe in the pee and enjoying the sound as it splashed on our hard wood floor!

Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Blackbeans

2009-03-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

I love the crock pot but am not big on recipes where all you do is open cans, bags or boxes and dump. There are usually way too many additives and preservatives in those products. However, here is a really good "dumping" recipe that doesn't include all of the yucky stuff!!

Ingredients:
4-5 free-range boneless chicken breasts
1 can black beans (or I use 1.5 cups of previously soaked, cooked then frozen black beans)
1 bag frozen organic corn
1 jar organic salsa
1 package organic cream cheese

1. Put chicken breasts into crock-pot
2. Add black beans, salsa, and corn
3. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours
4. Add cream cheese and let sit for about 1/2 hour

"Soaked" Pancakes

2009-03-30T06:56:00.001-07:00

I said I would be posting about cooking and nutrition every now and then. So, when a friend requested a few recipes, I thought it would be another great opportunity to blog about bread baking.

A small nutritional lesson on grains. Just because you have switched from white flour to whole grain flour does not mean that you are getting all of the nutritional value. In fact you may also experience new problems with digestion. This is because whole grains contain phytic acid in the bran of the grain. Phytic acid combines with key minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc and prevents their absorption in the intestinal tract. Soaking, fermenting or sprouting the grain before cooking or baking will neutralize a large portion of the phytic acid, releasing these nutrients for absorption. This process allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to not only neutralize the phytic acid, but also to break down complex starches and difficult-to-digest proteins including gluten.

That is how Sue Gregg explains it in her Whole Grain Baking Cookbook. And the following is her blender batter pancake recipe. You can use different combinations of grains and cultured milk but the following is the best combination I have found so far.

Stage 1:
1. Place in blender, blend at highest speed for 3-5 minutes, cover blender and let stand at room temperature 12-24 hours (so I do this the morning or night before wanting to make the pancakes) Put the ingredients in the blender in the following order:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 tbs melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup rolled oats

Stage 2

1. preheat griddle on medium high

2. Just before baking, add egg and blend on highest speed 1-3 minutes

3. Stir in:

2 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp salt

There are many many ways to prepare "soaked" breads, muffins and pancakes. In this recipe you soak the grain overnight before baking. You can also soak and sprout a large amount of grains (I mainly use spelt) then store them in your refrigerator then grind then you can just grind the grain into flour right before using. This can all sound very intimidating, but believe me once you get the hang of it and in the habit of doing it, it is very simple and takes little time. Believe me..with 2 little ones I know how precious time can be!!

Those darn teeth!

2009-03-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

So Jack has been crying for about 2 weeks now. Seems like ALL THE TIME!! He cried for a week then got his first tooth. Had 1 happy day then bam started all over again! So I hope this tooth comes through soon! He has a fever today. I'm not a believer in giving tylenol to babies..so I am trying all sorts of homeopathic remedies...hope I find one that works for him! Poor little guy!

Not a good blogger

2009-03-22T16:34:00.001-07:00

So my goal with this blog is to make a daily entry that will capture those little moments with the kids so that they are not lost all too soon. So...why don't I always accomlish this goal?? Look who my helpers are...

Dinosaur Museum

2009-03-18T06:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took the kids to the Cleveland Natural Science Museum. We met up with a few other moms, there were 3 moms and 9 kids! I told Soraya first thing in the morning that we were going to go. I started prepping her because in order to go she had to take her nap an hour earlier than normal and I didn't want her to be scared of the huge dinosaurs. We've been scared of a lot of things lately. So I explained how we were going to go see really big dinosaur bones. She knew what dinosaurs were from the toys in Jack's room. Her first question was "they going to get me?" I said no, they dont move. They are stuck. "Oh, ok" she said. So she took her nap an hour early without hesitation. I had a hard time waking her up though. I rubbed her arm and took her binkie and she opened her eyes, grabbed her binkie and rolled over and put her blankie over her head. It was pretty cute. So I rubbed her leg and she turned over and looked at me and smiled and said "Hi mommy." So we were off to the museum. Only a 40 minute car ride. Jack napped and Soraya watched Thomas the Train on her little dvd player. We got to the museum and played outside on the big dinosaur for about 30 minutes then we went inside. Looked at some dinosaurs and some taxidermy then we went out to the outdoor section that had some rescued animals in what was supposed to be as close to their natural habitat as possible. There were fox, deer, lots of different birds and some otters. Soraya said the otters "kinda scared her a little bit." After that we headed back in to the basement where there is a "discovery zone" for kids to play with different science-y toys. Then it was off to the planetarium before heading home. It was a fun trip and I'm looking forward hitting up some more of the Cleveland museums. I didn't take my camera, I thought juggling two kids would be enough but I think I will try to take it next time.

Eat Fat to Lose Fat

2009-03-16T11:27:00.001-07:00

Now THIS is what I've been talking about...

http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/food-wine/praise/1387214/story.html

Facebook Addict

2009-03-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

So I didn't realize I was addicted to facebook until it was taken away from me a week ago. I have not been able to use it since last Tuesday and I'm starting to feel out of touch!! I have NO idea what happened. I need to go to the library and see if it works on a different computer. Ours is on its last leg...so I'm really hoping it is the computer's fault. We have a new laptop coming our way...should hopefully be shipped so...and I hope that will solve the problem! So I will hopefully be back soon. Rebecca...i really do want to be your friend! I can see the request...i just can't click on it!!

Thanks Ben!

2009-03-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank Ben Farmer for teaching Soraya to balance a spoon on her nose. She definitly did it this morning with a spoon full of yogurt!!

My Baby Boy

2009-03-12T06:11:00.001-07:00

I wish I could capture Jack's newborn smell in a bottle...it's fading fast! It's amazing how they all have their individual smell. I could pick Jack out of a a lineup blindfolded anyday. I know this because I was smelling Henry the otherday and couldn't smell anything. But Jack....the most beautiful smell in the world!

Small World Communications

2009-03-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't posted lately because I have been a bit tied up. I just picked up a semi-parttime job. My friend's mother needed some help with her communications company, and my friend recommended me. It is a wonderful arrangement as I can do 99% of the work from home! It is exactly what I've been looking for! I am very excited about it! And being a bit busier helps to keep me in a better mood :) And as Chad says, when mommy is in a bad mood the whole family is in a bad mood :) So everytime I sit down at the computer I think "Well, I guess I should do work and get paid for sitting here instead of just goofing around on the computer like usual." Well...speaking of...I guess I better clock in while I have 2 sleepers!

Looking Good

2009-03-05T16:04:00.001-08:00

Jack is lookin good! I just can't belive the difference the surgery made. And his eyes are working as a team now! So excited for the little guy. I keep saying, "Jack, you look so good buddy...not that looks matter...but you look great!!

Here are some pictures from yesterday, so this is two days after surgery:

Here is a picture from today, so 3 days after surgery:

As you can tell...this kid LOVES his jumper...he is in it for hours everyday!

Jack's new eyes

2009-03-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

He is looking good!!

Yesterday was a long day. We left home at 6:40 am to check in at the cleveland clinic by 8. We were called back to pre-op by 9. Met with the doc and anesthesiologist by 9:45 and Chad was carrying him back to the surgery room by 10:20. The doctor came out to tell us everything went as planned around 11:10 and we got to go back and see him by 11:30! It was so sad seeing him laying in his crib/hospital bed in his hospital gown. He was sleeping but his eyes were all swollen and kind of bloody. He woke up pretty quickly after we walked in and was pretty upset so I picked him up and held him for about 2 hours while he slept. At 1:30 he woke up and was finally ready to eat for the first time since 4 am. The nurse was about to send us home then he spiked a temp. His little face was so red. So she gave him a bit of motrin and it went down so we were safe to head home around 2:30. Little guy slept all the way home, we got there around 3:30. He then had to show off his eyes to grandma and grandpa wingfield before they left. He was then ready to eat and take another nap. He slept about 40 minutes then played pretty happily for about an hour until he was ready to go to bed. So he ate again and was in bed by 6 for the night! He woke up a few extra times during the night but still slept until 6:40 this morning. He has been acting pretty close to normal all day. Just a little extra fussy. Big thanks to Willow's mom for taking Soraya for a few hours today so that I can give Jack the extra attention he is wanting.

His eyes are looking better and better as the day goes! It is amazing how they have transformed. I just keep looking him over as he just looks so different to me!

Day of surgery

Morning the day after surgery

Afternoon the day after surgery

Jack's surgery

2009-03-02T13:38:00.001-08:00

I just wanted everyone to konw that Jack's surgery went well and as planned. He is home recovering now. I will give more details and post a photo later! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Baby Henny

2009-02-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

Jack and I are currently visiting Baby Henny (thats what Soraya call Henry). We've been having a nice visit while Soraya stays with Grandpa and Grandma W for a few days. We will be leaving tomorrow morning to head to gma and gpas house. Catch a visit with the L side of the family then we will be heading back to daddy on Thursday morning! I stole this picture of Henry off of my sister's computer by randomly selecting a file. Looks like I picked a cute one :)

Tour de Northwest Ohio

2009-02-19T09:08:00.001-08:00

Next week the kids and I will be going on an adventure. We will be touring northwest Ohio. We will be going to visit the grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. We try to do this once every month or two to ensure they are getting the quality time with their relatives. Poor Chad, is stuck at home going to school. But it gives him a nice chance to get ahead on some school work and really get to focus on it without the distraction the wife and kids tend to be :) So here is our schedule:

Monday- 2:30 pm (or whenever Jack seems to be in need of a nap and Soraya wakes up from her nap) depart to go to Aunt Michele, Uncle JJ and Cousin Henry's house

5 pm- arrive at destination. We will be having dinner with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Marj. Soraya will then be going home with Grandma and Grandpa while Jack and I stay at Aunt Michele's for some quality time.

Wednesday- 10 am (or whenever Jack seems to be in need of a nap) depart for Aunt Carol, Uncle Brandon and Cousin Marissa's house.

11:00 am- arrive at destination. My mom will be meeting there with Soraya.

12:30 ish- Depart for Grandma and Grandpa's house so that both Children can take their afternoon naps

5:00 ish - Go to Grandpa Gene and Grandma Barb's house for a visit??? Need to ask them yet :) Depart when Jack is ready to go to bed.

Thursday- 10am - (or whenever Jack seems to be in need of a nap) depart to head back home!

That is the tentative agenda...I'm sure it will change!!

Surgery Moved Up 1 Week

2009-02-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

The eye surgeon called yesterday and had to move Jack's eye surgery up one week. It will now be on Monday, March 2nd. I am a bit relieved, that is one less week to worry about it. We will not know until next Friday what time the surgery will be. Jack has a physical tomorrow, it is mandatory to have within 30 days of the surgery. I am a bit excited though, to find out his height and weight. He hasn't been to the doctor since he was a few weeks old!

Still Trying!

2009-02-18T13:42:00.001-08:00

Jack is still trying to sit up by himself. Well, really...I am still trying to get him to sit up by himself. He really shows no interest in sitting at all. Most of the times that I try he stiffens up as straight as a board. But I've been trying daily during his happiest times. So here is our practice session for the morning.

Sitting happily....not minding too much....

Getting tired of the sitting thing....

Just going to lay down here for a little bit....

Finally! To the favorite position...on the belly!

Infantile Estropia

2009-02-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

Say what?? That is what Jack's eye situation is called. So I did some googleing and I'm really glad I don't regret that decision. I almost didn't do it, scared of what I would find...but I didn't find any negative horror stories about surgeries gone wrong. So that was all very reassuring. So I thought I would post some links on here for anyone wanting to better understand his diagnosis and the surgical procedure he will be undergoing. I just keep thinking about it all the time, I wish we could just do the surgery tomorrow and get it over with so I can stop worrying. But everyone has been very reassuring and it will be here before I know it I'm sure.

http://www.aapos.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=215

Sitting Up

2009-02-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Jack is working pretty hard at sitting up these days. He's never enjoyed it as much as his sister did. She was sitting up pretty well by now...but he is just now showing some interest. It sure goes to show that every child is SO different! Jack is a rolling maching and Soraya never rolled. So...so far they are exact opposites when it comes to everything :)

Jack's Eyes

2009-02-11T15:54:00.001-08:00

Well, today was the big eye doctor appointment for the kids. It was a long, long day. We had to be on the road by 7:10, which meant waking the kids to get them out the door on time. My friend Halie went along to help me with the kids (HUGE lifesaver!) Not only did we have to deal with rush hour but there was also an accident to slow us down but we managed to get to our 8:30 appointment by 8:20 (they wanted new patients to arrive 30 min early! that didn't happen) So the doctor was actually pretty on time, we saw him by 8:50. He did some initial tests and determined that a patch would not fix Jack's eyes and that Soraya's eyes were perfectly straight. So they put drops in both kids eyes and we had to wait in a little waiting room for 50 minutes before the doctor was ready for us again. He did a few more tests and determined that Soraya's eye's were right on track. A tad farsighted, but that is to be expected for her age. He wants to see her again in a year, earlier than normal, because of her family history. Jack on the other hand....good news is he has good vision - wasn't near or farsighted. Bad news - since he wasn't farsighted glasses also would not correct his eyes. So the only option left is surgery. The doctor said it was perfect timing and great to get the surgery so young. So he is scheduled for surgery March 9th. I was pretty bummed, but at least we know what is going on now. Neither eye would look out toward the side. Like the left eye was looking straight and to the right but not to the left, he instead used the other eye to look over there. He physically could when the other eye was covered. But neurologically, he wasn't using both eyes together properly. So on March 9th we go downtown Cleveland to the Cleveland clinic for his eye surgery. It is an outpatient surgery, thank goodness!!! The procedure itself takes 20 minutes and we will have to be there about 1 1/2 hours before and after the surgery. The doctor also said 1/3 of children will also need a 2nd surgery and we won't know until later if that is necessary. So lets hope not!! But that's all. Oh yeah...then I managed to lock myself out of the house with the kids today...not fun...

Ooops! #2 - A Jacktastic Pooper

2009-02-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

Well...my last oops entry had to do with poo. So does this one but this time it is Jack instead of Soraya. I was letting Jack play in the buff yesterday...you know...air out his pieces...he was on one of those water proof mats so I just let him play in his room for a bit. I was walking thru the other bedrooms collecting trash and I went back in and Jack had pooped all over!!!!! And I mean all over! He of course rolled a few times first so that he was no longer on the mat, then pooped, then proceeded to roll around in it. It really looked like he went swimming in poo! So we threw him in the tub and I still have a big toy and one of his dresser drawers sitting on top of towels over the stain trying to lift it out of the brand new carpet!!

BFF

2009-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Soraya has a BFF, Willow. I am amazed at how good of friends they can already be at 2. But they have spent a lot of their short lives together. Willow lives one street over and is the daughter of our really good friends, so they see a lot of each other and they are only 2 months apart in age. So Willow's mom and I decided to do weekly play dates for them throughout the winter. Once week Willow comes here, the next week Soraya goes to their house for a few hours. It has worked out wonderfully. Here are some pictures of Willow's recent visit.

The Great Wolf Lodge

2009-02-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to following an academic calender, Chad had Friday off since he had finals this week. (He is half way done! Yipee!) So we took the opportunity to take our first ever family vacation. We decided at about 2:00 on Thursday afternoon and took off at 3:00 for The Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky Ohio. It was only a 1 hour 15 minute drive which is the perfect distance for a one night getaway. We got there about 4:15 and were in the pool by 4:30! They have an indoor waterpark where it was a muggy 86 degrees, it was wonderful! Soraya has never been a waterbaby, so she was timid at first but by time she left the pool at 6:30 she was running around in the water and going down the slides. So she was loving it.

We were a bit concerned about how everyone would sleep all in one room. We didn't know how well Raya would do...well she slept wonderful! Eleven hours straight without a peep..it was Jack who woke up every 1.5 hours all night long!!! What was that!? He didn't even do that as an infant...my only thought is that the 2 hours of swimming and activity were just way too stimulating for him because really every time he woke up he just wanted to play! Oh well. It was still fun.

Friday morning we were all up by 7. Had breakfast in our room and were at the "cub house" to play at 8. Went back to the room at 8:45 so Soraya and I could get our swim gear on and hit the pool at 9 while Chad stayed in the room to get Jack a nap. Soraya loved swimming ALL morning. We had to drag her out of the pool at 12:30 to head home. On the way to the car she asked..."swim one more time please??" She fell asleep holding her movie player on the way home because she was plum tuckered out.

Hide and Seek

2009-02-03T06:50:00.001-08:00

Soraya and Chad like to play hide and seek together. Here is a picture of Soraya in one of her favorite hiding spots...the middle of the upstairs hallway. Chad has a hard time finding her :)

BTW...I made two posts today because I went to make this one and I realized I never published the post I started last friday!

Mrs. Independant - part 2

2009-01-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

In my last Mrs. Independent post I explained how Soraya wants to put her shoes on by herself. Well, we have now moved on to picking out our clothes for the day. I shouldn't be surprised as for awhile now she has enjoyed standing on a stool in my closet, tapping her index finger to her chin saying "hmmmm, pick....pick." I wonder where she got that from? Did she possibly watch me try and decide what to wear one too many times :)

So we now have moved on to picking out our own clothes. Today she was adamant about wearing the same t-shirt from yesterday that had a sparkly BFF on it. Along with some navy blue sweatpants. I had to convince her that we could put a long sleeve shirt under the t-shirt and you could still see the sparkly BFF as it was too cold to just wear a t-shirt.

So here is a picture wearing her well thought out outfit. She is also wearing her puppy dog "pack pack"

Snow Day!

2009-01-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a couple more feet of snow Chad had another snow day yesterday! It was nice just lounging around the house, getting some things done, and Chad getting in a little more studying since finals are next week. Chad took Soraya out to play in the snow. All of the dad's on the block were shoveling their driveways while the kids played so I took a few pictures. Soraya LOVED it! We had to make her come inside after an hour because her cheeks were bright red and since her gloves got soaked she took them off then had freezing cold hands! But at least she had a good time! Jack made it out for a bit and was mesmerized with the snowflakes landing on his eyelashes :)

Oops!

2009-01-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I was checking my email while Soraya was taking a bubble bath and Jack (freshly bathed) watched his mobile. Next thing I know Soraya is yelling that it's time to get out! I run in and she had pooped in the bath tub. She said "Raya poo poo in the tub" and then she started crying. She was clearly upset about her accident. So I got her out, wrapped her in a towel and told her it was ok. I didn't want her to feel any worse about the incident. So I let Chad clean it up when he got home :)

Graham Crackers

2009-01-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

When we started potty training we bribed Soraya with crackers. She could have 2 crackers every time she used the potty. Well, we were going through a lot of crackers. And in my opinion, even the "healthiest" cracker in the super market still is not nourishing to the body. It is more harmful than helpful. So, I decided to make some homemade graham crackers. I just made them for the second time today and they turned out even better than the first time! They are actually pretty good. I enjoyed dunking them in some raw milk :)
Graham Crackers
41/2 c. spelt flour
1 c. butter
1 c. buttermilk
2 c. rapadura or sucanant
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, butter and buttermilk and let stand at room temperature overnight. (Use a glass bowl and cover with a plate). Next morning, mix rest of ingredients and add to four mixture. Roll out as thin as possible and cut with a cooking cutter. Bake at 350 until crisp.

Tips

My hardest problem is rolling them thin enough. I still think I can get them thinner. The harder I push though, the more they tend to stick to the counter.
I don't have any cookie cutters...so I use a shot glass :) Works great!
They seem to stick less to my stone than cookie sheets.
15 minutes seems to be the right amount of time. They will crisp up some as they cool, so take them out when they are golden brown.

Mrs. Independant

2009-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I now have to give Soraya ample notice when we are going to leave the house. She wants to put her shoes on all by herself. It is interesting to observe the learning process of such a huge milestone for a toddler. She started practicing on Sunday. She found some of her summer shoes in her room and put them on by herself. However, that evening when we went to leave it took 15 minutes and 2 tantrums to get out the door. She now wants to do it by herself every time. However, she still can't get them on by herself half of the time. So she tries, lays down and screams. I ask if she wants help NO! I ask if she wants to try again NO! And she cries the some more. She kicks her foot up and the half on shoe flys off and hits her in the head. She cries some more. So I finally pursuade her to try again and sucess! She got it. But now we are wearing our summer shoes in the winter....no big deal. It was just her and I going to Jessie's house so I could carry her. Well, Chad calls later in the evening and Jack is crying because he is ready to be fed and put to bed. So I tell Soraya it is time to go and the tantrum starts all over again trying to get her shoes on by herself. Fifteen minutes later she is still crying and I know Jack is probably crying for Chad, so I convince her to carry her shoes. So it works and I get her out the door....this time it works...not sure about the next time...

Beer Day

2009-01-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

I sure love living by the college calender. Getting those random holidays off that you don't get in the real world, like MLK day today. So since Chad has today off, it is Beer bottling day. And so far it has been a family event. This is the first time he has bottled beer since we moved which posed 2 problems.

Problem #1- We no longer have a dishwasher, which is how you sanitize the bottles. Chad is Mr. Sanitizer himself. So he wants them sanitized at the last possible second and stored in an airtight, sanitized container. So we asked friends Dave and Amy who live down the block and they happily agreed to let us use their dishwasher for a few beers in return.

Problem #2- We had to get the bottles to Dave and Amy around 10 in order to have them back by Soraya's nap time, which is prime bottling time. Well, Chad didn't even start looking for the bottle until 9. We found about 200 bottle with the labels still on...but couldn't find the 80 that he used in his last batch which we had already scraped the labels off of. So during Jack's am nap the scraping began. We had one side of the sink full of hot water soaking bottles. Once Chad and I scraped the label off of a bottle with a razor blade we put it in the other side of the sink where Soraya dumped out the water, rinsed it off and put it in the tub with the other finished bottles.

Soraya also made sure the bottles that were soaking were stirred.

So we get the bottles ready in time and Chad takes them down to Dave and Amy's. Well, they couldn't fit all of them in their dishwasher in one load so then we call Rod and Amy who live a few minutes away and Soraya and Chad drive over with the rest ofe bottles to get a load going in their dishwasher as well, costing us a 6 pack.

We then get both kids to sleep for their naps and we start bottling.

First you sanitize. Chad sanitizes EVERYTHING!

Then you syphon the beer from the carboy to the bottling bucket.

Chad didn't want to waste a drop!

I was the bottle filler.

Chad was the bottle caper.

All done! Just in time for Jack to wake up!

Roadtrip

2009-01-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well, time to get caught up with the blog. I tend to get a few days behind. We went to meet our new niece, Marissa, this past weekend. Soraya talked about her all week and was excited to give her some baby shampoo. But when we got there, she was much more excited about Marissa's toys, which I should have expected. Jack found her crib to be very exciting, as he wanted to look at all of her stuff instead of sleep :) But it was a nice visit and I was glad to finally get to meet her! The drive home was interesting. Jack cried off and on the last hour of the drive, and poor guy, we had to make two stops, which stretched things out even more. Soraya had to go potty, she now wears no diapers ever, so we had to stop at a gas station in Wadworth, about 20 minutes from home. I know what you are thinking...gas station...well we had her little potty seat that sits on big potty seats so I didn't think it would be too bad. So I go running in with toddler in one hand and a potty seat in the other and of course...there was someone already in the ladies room. I stand there for a second...knowing Jack is in the car screaming (poor guy) so I try the men's handle..it was empty..after a few seconds of hesitation we go in...i know not only gas station bathroom but now mens gas station bathroom! Soraya happily trots in and I yell "don't touch ANYTHING!" She goes, without a hitch, thankgoodness it was #1 and not #2! So we get back in the car and head on down the road and we had to then stop in Copley to pick up our milk (we get raw milk from a farm co-op that we have to pick up weekly). But Jack survivied, poor guy, you just wish he could understand why he was stuck in that seat for 3 hours and why no one picked him up even though he was crying. So we get home feed the kids, put them in bed and I hit the hay at 8! I was exhausted!

Jumping Jack wearing daddy's hat. This is his new favorite hang out spot :)

Mama Carol with baby Marissa

Close up of Baby Marissa

Soraya "swimming" in her "boat" while I tried to pack our bag for the weekend.

Killer Meatloaf!

2009-01-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

I had a request for my killer meatloaf recipe so I thought I would post it here. It was SO good. I used to hate meatloaf and had to drown it in ketchup to cover the taste. But this one is SO good you don't even need to dip! Soraya loved it as well. We ate 3/4 of this thing last night!

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped (used food processor)
1/2 a green pepper, finely chopped (used food processor)
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. tomato juice
1/4 c. spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp. mustard
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 egg

Mix all ingredients and put in a baking dish. Mix 1/4 cup ketchup and 1 teaspoon mustard and spread over top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I am a big fan of homemade ketchup and mustard. More natural and less sugar. But since baby #2 I've been too lazy. So I used organic ketchup and mustard in this recipe.

I served it with brocolli and the coconut flour blueberry muffins I posted about last week.

I got the recipe from the most amazing cookbook that my in-laws gave me for Christmas! You can purchase it at: http://www.grassfedcooking.com/book/wholesomehomecooking.html

She did it!

2009-01-14T06:36:00.001-08:00

Well, I think we've had a potty training breakthrough! Last night before bed Soraya wanted to wear her froggy panties to bed, since baby Jack wears diapers. So, we followed her lead and went for it...and she made! She was dry this morning when she woke up! So I think we are pretty much there. We have one potty trained little girl :) I know accidents will happen..that is expected...but she sure amazed me how quickly she caught on. She's worn panties to the grocery store and to church, so I think we are going to attempt the YMCA today. We'll see how it goes!

By the way...I kept trying to edit yesterday's post and wasn't able to...I meant to explain how every time she is "on the phone" she says pretty good...hence the name of the post. Wonder who she hears say that on the phone all the time??

Pretty Good

2009-01-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

I was on the phone for awhile yesterday morning trying to set up Jack's eye appointment. So Soraya picked up her phone and started making phone calls. She has been "on the phone" constantly since yesterday! She has her pink barbie phone and has had conversations with Granma, Mama, and daddy. With daddy she discusses school and not pee peeing in her panties. With Granma (my mom) she discusses how baby Jack is awake. And with Mama (Chad's mom) she discusses "playing toys" how papa is doing dishes. And she has told everyone about baby Marissa! Too cute. The funny thing is though that she still won't talk on the real phone! I'm sure she will some day.

Well, I'm not planning on much activity for the next few days. We already have a foot of snow and are getting 2-4 more inches today. Then FREEZING cold the rest of the week. Do you take your kids out in the freezing cold? If I pre-heat the car and just go to the YMCA so they are only going in and out once. What do you think? I still can't decide. Maybe we will just hybernate the rest of the week.

I've decided blogs are much more interesting with photos. So if I dont find one that goes with my post then will just pick a random one. Here is one with Mama.

Jack's Eyes

2009-01-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I made an appointment today for Jack's eyes :( It doesn't look like they are going to straighten out on their own. We still have one more month...they say it can take up to 6 months...but "normally" they are straight by now. We've even tried chiropractic care, which has helped to improve them, but not fix them. So we have an appointment in early Feb with a pediatric eye doctor that works with the Cleveland Clinic. We've decided to take Soraya to get tested too just incase, since it is probably hereditary. My good friend is an eye doctor and she said it could be treated with glasses, a patch or maybe surgury. Lets hope for the glasses! All along I was hopefull that they would just straighten out on their own but it isn't looking like that is going to happen so we will see what happens February 11 at 8:30 am. If my mom can't come along...anyone want to help take 2 kids 2 and under to the eye doctor??

I'm an Aunt again!

2009-01-09T05:53:00.001-08:00

I am SO excited to annouce the birth of Chad's brother's baby! Baby Marissa came into the world around 4:20 this morning weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20 1/2 inches long! Can't wait to meet her. I'm bummed I have to wait a whole week!

Can you even call this sleep?

2009-01-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

So, I'm up but not really awake. I don't even think you could call last night sleeping! Here is what happened:

10- I go to bed
11- Jack wakes to eat
2:30 - Raya wants her binkie, then her other binkie to hold, then her diaper changed
3- Jack wakes to eat
5:30- Jack wakes from rolling over. Pat him back to sleep
5:45- i get back in bed
6- Jack awake again, end up feeding him a bit to get him to back to sleep
6:15- Jack awake AGAIN, I send Chad in...his turn...
6:30- Jack still screaming, Chad gives up, I go in, feed him a bit more and pat him to sleep
7:30- Chad comes walking in with Raya, Jack is in his crib talking and Chad has to leave so I get up.

We were actually pretty lucky too because Soraya has been overtired since Christmas and waking at 6:30 every morning (instead of her usual 7:30 or 8, and that is also why she woke in the middle of the night). This is the first morning in 2 weeks she slept past 6:30! Yipee for the extra hour of sleep. I needed it after that night. (Chad thought I looked half asleep in this picture so I thought it was appropriate for this post :)

Then, as I groggily watched over the kids, in the first hour Soraya spilt a whole cup of milk, a full bowl of blueberries and burned her hand on the stove. Wonder what is in store for the rest of the day...

Recipes

2009-01-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned in one of my first posts, I really enjoying some other women's blogs (located on the left of my blog!) And most of them have to do with food. I love finding a new really yummy really nourishing recipe.

Now for those of you who don't really know me...i can be a food nut! When my daughter turned 6 months old I went on a mission to find the HEALTHIEST foods possible. And I ended up finding out about Weston A. Price. Long story short, he was a dentist who traveled the world for 10 years studying different cultures and their diet and the affect it had on their teeth. The trend was the more of the "white man's food" that was in their diet the worse their teeth were and the less healthy they were. The cultures eating the most natural, least processed foods had perfect teeth and near perfect health. If you want to know more you can go to www.westonaprice.org. I highly recommend it. And if you have any questions for me let me know...I LOVE talking about this stuff!

So anyway, the foods we don't have in our house are sugar, margerine, anything processed that comes in a box, soda, pasturized milk and so forth.

What we eat a TON of is raw milk, grass fed eggs and meat, butter, coconut oil, cheese, spelt flour, and the newest food I've just tried is coconut flour.

So I thought I would post the newest recipe I tried yesterday. Totally yummy! I found it at: http://www.cheeseslave.com/2008/10/08/coconut-flour-blueberry-muffins/

I will probably from time to time post my newest yummiest finds in case any of you out there are like me and always on the hunt for a new recipe!

Blueberry Honey Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients:

3 eggs (pastured if possible)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (raw, grass-fed if possible)
2 tablespoons coconut milk or whole milk (I used whole raw grass-fed milk)
3 tablespoons honey (raw honey if possible)
8 ounces organic fresh or frozen blueberries (please do not use conventional blueberries — it’s important that they are organic) *
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (organic, additive-free)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder **

1. Blend together eggs, butter, coconut milk, honey, salt, and vanilla.
2. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter until there are no lumps.
3. Drain blueberries and dry with paper towels. Add to batter with a spoon.
4. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 C) for 15 minutes.

* If you can’t find organic blueberries, I would use banana or some other fruit instead. It is important to buy organic berries.

Getting back in the groove

2009-01-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well, after 2 weeks of bliss, I have to return to the daily grind. Chad had 2 weeks off off school and it was wonderful. We really enjoyed just spending a lot of time at home with the family- stress free! So it was great, the refreshing break we needed, now its back to the real world! It's quite the adjustment. I was getting pretty used to having his help to juggle the 2 kids. But we are getting back in the groove...figuring out how to hold jack while getting raya's pants down, sitting her on the potty, getting them back up, and lifting her up to the sink to wash her hands! Quite a tast to do 2-3 times per hour. Next up, taking the two to the grocery store...I really enjoyed only taking one or even getting to go by myself one time!

Potty Training

2008-12-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we just started potty training yesterday...again...we've probably tried 10 times now. This time Soraya had some Elmo panties to wear as inspiration, a Christmas present from Grandma Marj. That combined with a treat of 2 crackers and getting to watch a movie everytime she successfully goes on the potty. Well it is going great this time! No accidents today and she has been in panties all day! So all in all it's been very sucessfull. She even went #2 once :) (tmi??) Anyway, I never thought I would ever talk about pee pee and poo poo as much as I have the past 2 days! But hopefully we are well on our way to a potty trained little toddler. We are going to keep going strong as Chad is here to help until Sunday.

Home after the holidays!

2008-12-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well, we just returned home today after a 4 day Christmas Marathon with the family. We were supposed to leave first thing Christmas Eve morn in order to make it to my grandma's for a family dinner. However, Soraya got the flu the night before (so did half the children in our church I hear!) Thankfully she recovered very quickly and we were able to depart late that afternoon. We spent the evening with Mama Barb and Papa Gene. Soraya talked all the way home about playing with their toys :) Christmas morning Soraya loved opening presents. Then after breakfast we headed to Chad's aunt's house so they could all meet Jack. We didn't visit too long as we had to head back to Chad's folks to meet up with his brother and his wife. After a few more presents we headed to my Aunts for a big dinner. This dinner involved 8 children YOUNGER than Soraya who is 2! Talk about a crazy time! And somehow we got them all on the coach for a picture!
The next morning we packed up and moved 5 miles to stay at my parents house for the next 2 nights. We lounged and opened presents most of the day. Chad and JJ both got Wii's so really we just played Wii almost the rest of the trip!

So now we are home and settleing back into our normal routines. Chad is still on break which is wonderul...I am going to have a heck of a time getting used to him not being around!

Someone can't wait until Christmas!

2008-12-23T07:10:00.001-08:00

What a day...

2008-12-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Not really. We didn't do too much today. But it was fun spending time with friends. Julie and her 7 month old Trevor stoped by and Raya loved playing with baby Trevor. She was very busy helping Julie clean out her diaper bag. Raya had the formula out and was shaking the "boggle" and everything. She plays very well with Trevor...why doesn't she do that with her brother...

Another friend and neighbor Amy stopped by today to see what we had done to the house. She hadn't seen it since we moved in. She is very artsy so I was glad that she was impressed :) She also dropped off a move for us to watch tonight. It is called The Lake House...it's a love story so I can't wait to watch it..Chad is hesitant but our last 3 movies have been gun movies so it's my turn!!

Oh, and we did make it to the library today. I got an issue of Mothering magazine to read (love that magazine!) Raya got some books and she got the Christmas Eve on Sesame Street DVD to watch with daddy when he gets home tonight to officially kick off his Christmas break.

A day in the life...

2008-12-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I always used to wonder what mom's did at home all day with there children. So I thought I would post a typical Ledley Household day...as I say this Soraya is still sleeping and it is 9 am! But that isn't typcial...so I will stick with what is...

7 am - Jack wakes up. We go downstairs where Chad is already studying and I turn on the Today show and feed him. Then he lays on the floor and talks to the Christmas tree while I sip coffee and watch the news.

8 am- Soraya wakes up. We get everyone dressed. Makes Beds. Eat Breakfast. And often do some laundry. If we are having a crockpot dinner, I make dinner.

9 am- Jack takes his first nap. Soraya watches 2 PBS Cartoons: Super Why and Clifford. I pay bills, make phone calls, check email/facebook, get everything around so when Jack wakes we can leave the house promptly

11 am- Jack wakes and eats and we normally go somewhere at this time. Typically: Monday-grocery store; Tuesday- YMCA, Wednesday- Library; Thursday-Raya goes to Willows or Willow comes here to play; Friday- Chiropractor

12:30- return home to eat lunch

1 pm- kids take naps and I take a break :)

3 pm- kids wake up and both have a snack.

3:30- Chad gets home from School. So he plays with the kids or if he has studying to do I will color, paint, read books, or play puzzles with Soraya.

4:30- Jack takes another nap. Chad plays with Soraya if he is done studying, if not Soraya will watch a movie and I start dinner

5:15- Jack wakes up. We eat dinner. Clean up dinner. Sometimes do a dual bath.

6:45- I feed Jack and put him to bed while Chad plays with Soraya

7:30- Chad reads books with Soraya and puts her to bed for the evening.

Chad then studies Sun- Wed nights. I go to bible studies on some Sundays and Tuesdays and have coffee with girlfriends som Wednesday nights.

Babies are weird

2008-12-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

They really are! Jack is sleeping HORRIBLE at night! And you know why?? Because he likes to rollover. As funny as that sounds it is wrecking havoc on his sleep! He has been waking up around 6 times each night for the past 4 nights because he keeps rolling over in his sleep. He knows how to roll back over...but I guess in the middle of the night that thought doesn't even cross his mind :) So in a sleepy haze this morning I stuck the boppy in the crib to keep him from rolling and I slept like a dream from 4-7am! But I just keep telling myself he doesn't do these things to me on purpose...he has no idea that this is even considered sleeping bad...so that helps me to make light out of the situation.

My Job Description

2008-12-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

As I colored with Soraya today for like half an hour I started thinking about my new job description. When we decided to start a family I agreed to take the time and effort to do all of the "little" things with the kids. I mean, who else is going to teach her to color? So now, as my day is full of coloring, painting, books and puzzles I just can't believe that this is it...this is what I do now. I used to work for the CEO of a large corporation...now I don't even get out of my sweat pants some days! But, despite some frustraging days here and there...I am very happy with the decision I made 2 years ago. I can't imagine missing all of the firsts and new words and new activities that I have been able to witness. So...for now...this is my job description.

Sunday Rainy Sunday

2008-12-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a cold rainy day...not much to say. Jack slept in until 7:40 today! Can't say I've slept in that late in about 4 months! But then it was a mad dash to get everyone around and fed and out the door by 9:30 for church. We went early because I had coffee bar and it was Jack's nap time, so I put him down for his nap in the crib room (or the breastroom as Meg likes to call it). Soraya LOVES going to church. She just has sooo much funny. She asked if Baby Henry (her cousin that lives 2 hours away) would be there and was a bit disappointed when I said no. But when I told her Willow would be there she got very excited. So she had fun in nursery with her friends making bead braclets. Here is a photo of Raya and her friend Willow.

The rest of the day is just lounging around and finish up making Christmas presents while Chad studies...again! Then after the kids go to bed I'm off to ladies game night!

Bath Time Photos

2008-12-13T17:40:00.001-08:00

Well, I supose if I'm going to claim to be a blogger I better do it atleast 2 days in a row :) Today was a busy day, like always. Chad had a lot of studying to do, which obviously goes better when the children are napping. So during Jack's first nap Soraya and I went to Home Depot (my stop) and Barnes & Nobles (her stop). She loves playing with the trains they have there and there are always a few other kids to play with. Today it was two young boys, she was intimidated at first but then just jumped right in and played with them. The dad was calling the youngest boy "dozer" short for bulldozer...that nickname really said a lot about his personality! We then went home, had Ben over for some Chili for lunch then it was naptime again! So when both kids went down for their naps, I went to Target to finish up my Christmas shopping. After dinner this evening we gave both kids baths at once. We took a lot of photos because we just hung up a picture frame in there that matched the bathroom great! But what other photos do you really want hanging in your bathroom? Kinda weird..so I decided kids in the bath was the best and cutest idea. And now Chad and Ben went to Blockbuster to get us a flick for the evening. It will probably be matcho...always is...I just can't get them to pick out a romantic comedy for once...and they wonder why I always fall asleep before its over!

Everyone's doin it...

2008-12-12T11:11:00.001-08:00

Well, I've decided to start a blog. I have recently started reading some other blogs consistantly and have found them to be very interesting! So we will see how this goes!

How does this thing work?

2008-08-23T06:58:00.001-07:00

I'm just trying to figure out how this thing works so we can post pictures of the kids for friends and family to see.