Snack Time

Changing how I eat has been a mostly non-issue. There have been a variety of things including pasture raised eggs from family chickens with veggies and herbs from the garden for breakfast, sandwiches with homemade bread, jam, peanut butter (with as many homegrown ingredients as we have available) for lunches, and lots of curries with garden produce and grains.

Mellie is pretty open to eating these meals with us. It's what she has grown up eating and isn't "weird" food to her, just normal fare, so that's been a non-issue. What has been more difficult is snack time. I'm bad about snacks. If I'm not also eating, it's not unusual for her to get store bought crackers, single serving jello, pudding, or yogurt cups, or other ready made things that I really have no clue what is actually in them, and probably don't want to know. Problem is, much like curries, marinated salads, or other things that many people we run into are amazed she happily eats, Mellie is now used to junk food for snacks. I'm discovering more and more that the packaging has more to do with it than the food itself. She doesn't want the single serving pudding transferred into a bowl, but put homemade yogurt in a container she can open herself and she digs in. Slowly but surely I'm using little tricks like this to turn the tide in her diet.

After all, I'm hoping weight loss will be a pleasant side effect for myself, but the ultimate goal is to live healthier, and I want that for my whole family.

Good Morning River

I drug myself out of bed considerably earlier than normal this morning in order to catch the morning light for a little photography.

Dahlia came along and seemed to be a very happy baby as we did a little wading in the Chatahoochee River for a watery maternity session. The water was a little chilly on arrival, but thankfully not too cold.

My model was fantastic. The current was a bit strong today for whatever reason and didn't allow some of the images I was envisioning, but my model was gorgeous and glowing and looked very much like a mother mermaid sitting on the river rocks with her skirt swirling around in the water and hair blowing in the breeze.

It was a fun start to what turned into a crazy day. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

Getting Out More

My pelvic bones are pretty out of whack, I'm still easily exhausted, and I have a two year old that is constantly redefining the term "active". Whining about it aside, the facts are that Mellie hasn't been slowed down any by having a little sister, but I have. That combined with having an infant in my arms makes me deeply appreciate help with the kids when venturing out of our home, and a little anxious about going anywhere without it. With Cal back at work now and homeschool co-op fall classes starting very soon, it is about time I start getting used to handling both the girls on my own outside of our home too. 

A perfect opportunity presented itself this morning in the form of a photographer friend who had a couple of extra slots in her schedule today and extended an invitation to bring the kids and take some pictures. Cal had to work, so it was just Mellie, Dahlia, and a mommy determined to make it work. I'm now exhausted, but far less worried about how I'm going to manage the coming weeks. Mellie was mostly cooperative until she started getting really tired and Dahlia pretty much just wanted to ride in her carrier and sleep. By the time we got there, the lighting was less than optimal, to say the least, but Kim managed to get some cute pics for us.

Now I'm determined to get us out more often. I think there may be a visit with friends in the cards tomorrow!

The Eat Real Food Diet

I have a few (more than I would like to admit) pounds of baby weight leftover from having my daughters. While I try to put vanity low on my list, I admit that I would really like to be my pre-first pregnancy size again. I'm not a fan of this whole overweight thing. I've tried it and it's just not working for me, so I'm thinking I may try a little dieting experiment.

I'm going to call this the "Eat Real Food Diet". The premise is pretty simple, my diet will not include heavily processed foods or artificial ingredients. This isn't a huge stretch from how we eat normally, but I will be going to extra efforts to eliminate those occasional fast food pit stops that we are prone to on busy days out or while at work. Refined sugars and white flour are also going to be making their way out of my kitchen in favor of other sweeteners (honey, fresh stevia leaves, unrefined or minimally processed sugars like turbinado) and whole wheat or other grain flours.

I will try to include more raw food, both for ease of preparation and for nutrition. I stopped eating vegetarian about halfway through my most recent pregnancy, and am not planning to go back to it at this time, but any meat will be carefully selected. As hunting season is fast approaching, and we always end up with some venison being given to us by friends and family in the fall, that will probably make up a large portion of it. There will be more cooking and packing lunches to help avoid the temptation to swing through a drive thru.


What I am not restricting is the much longer list. I have zero intention of counting calories, carbs, or grams of fat. There will still be ice cream in my freezer (though it will likely be homemade as the store bought varieties that meet my other parameters are not within my budget parameters). I will eat when I'm hungry and until satiated. Dessert will still grace my table, as will pretty much anything else we are in the mood for.

Now, on that note, I'm off to start lunch!

Happy Hooking

I'm not the most advanced knitter or crocheter, but I enjoy it nevertheless. I love how portable smell projects are and how, when working on a simple project, it can easily be turned into a social activity. I'm not very fast, but getting faster. My sewing machine was broken in the last move and has yet to be replaced, so I'm doing more crochet now than I ever have. I also recently took a stab at expanding my knitting abilities in order to knit hats for Dahlia. So far, none of my hats have come out quite right, but each one is better than the last. Thankfully, I'm a little better with crochet, and I got an opportunity for extra practice with a side of great company last night.

After a month spent mostly staying home with my babies, a week of work, and the first few days of having the kids to myself after Cal's paternity leave ended, I was ready for a mom's night out with some of my favorite  hookers (and Dahlia, because I'm just not ready to go out without her yet). Another local mom is putting together a large afghan, and the plan for the evening was to crochet as many squares as possible for that project as possible. I'm not sure how many we ended up finishing, but a handful got done and there was ice cream, coffee, and great company along the way. Dahlia was wonderfully cooperative, sleeping in my lap most of the evening. I wish I got an opportunity to do this more often!

Homemade Deodorant

It's amazingly hot out and has been all summer. I'd been blaming this on the pregnancy, but I'm not longer pregnant and 90F still feels like a nice, cool evening. "Cool" should not be the first word that comes to mind with temperatures in the 90's. Just my luck, I ran out of deodorant in the middle of this lovely streak of warm weather. Time to make some more!

The recipe is simple. Coconut oil a a binder and moisturizer, cornstarch to absorb, baking soda to deodorize, and a couple of drops of essential or fragrance oil for scent, if desired. The specifics can be found here, though my mix includes a drop of lavender oil and one of sweet orange. I like that combination, but choose according to your own tastes, or go unscented.

I love this recipe. It's simple, inexpensive, and effective. I loaded mine into an old deodorant stick container I had from when I still bought premade deodorant and keep it in the fridge (doesn't require refrigeration, but it keeps it very solid in the heat of summer which makes application simple and feels great going on). It also lasts long enough to only need to make it once every few months. I don't know about anyone else, but ten minutes a few times a year is something I can fit into my schedule.

Getting Ready For Fall

It's crazy to think it's August already. It's time to start making plans for the fall. We joined a home school co-op and  Mellie is signed up for a couple of classes, once a week, starting in September. I've been pretty neglectful when it comes to trying to make sure she spends time with other kids in the past few months and am hoping this will give her an opportunity to make some friends, get some energy out, and get out of the house. Today we picked out a couple of new pairs of shoes for her to wear and I flipped through some old sewing patterns to get an idea of what I might want to make for her now that she is quickly outgrowing most of the stash of clothing I compiled before she was born. I'm hoping to make something new for Dahlia as well so she's not just getting her sister's hand me downs.

We also had a brief conversation about what we want to plant for the fall. I have most of a garden terrace where the potatoes and onions were this spring that is now open to be replanted. I love beets, so they are a given. Kale, radishes, quinoa, winter squash, cabbage, and broccoli will probably make up the rest. Turnips and collards will likely go in the pasture. Spinach and arugula may join the list, but I'm very short on seeds for both and am tempted to save what I have for spring to make sure I get more seeds from them.

Also on the agenda is the possible addition of a small hoop house over some of our raised beds. We would love to have fresh produce all winter and should be able to use our existing beds with this method. Though it is yet to be seen whether or not we will end up adding one, I'll be sure to post a tutorial if we decide to do it!