Weekly Gratitude

Welcome to Gratitude! If you feel called to join along please link up in the comments section below with any post that expresses your gratitude and reverence for the "little things" in your life. Share on your blog, spread the word on Facebook or any other social outlet. Let's slow it down and enjoy our time and remember to be thankful for all the moments that make life worth while! 

This week I am grateful for so much.

I'll let some photos do the talking this week.....

Our own fresh blackberries

New friends and playing dress-up

A beautiful man and his baby

Sharing a meal with dear friends, old and new

A sweet little KiKi, who after weeks of trials and tribulations, still has her groove

A glorious baby sneaking peeks while drifting off to play with her angel friends

Playdate with KiKi

Today, Charlotte got to have her first play date (without Mama or Papa). This would then be KiKi's first time without her daily companion. It wasn't easy for KiKi to understand why she couldn't tag along so I did my best to distract her and planned a special activity just for her.

KiKi loves to paint and be messy. What two year old doesn't?! With that in mind we decided that painting the porch would be a fun activity. We made up some paint (sidewalk chalk paint) grabbed some brushes and headed outdoors to "color our porch"!

For Kiks, the idea of painting on the porch was fun and made her giggle! Unfortunately, the color didn't stick; when the paint dried it turned white again, but, it was fun for her, nonetheless.

To make the paint you mix together:: 2 tbsp. of cornstarch, 2 tbsp. of water, a few drops of food coloring (we used our left over Easter egg dye that we save to use throughout the year). Stir it up and there you have it. You might have to kinda play with the consistency a bit and the paint doesn't work all that great on wood (our porch is wood) but it does work well on stone or concrete!

Kinda blurry,sorry! I like the way the colors swirl!

What are some of  your favorite activities to do with your littles when you are afforded quality one on one time?

Back to Basics

The Waldorf inspired rhythm we had created prior to our babe's arrival has fallen to the wayside for the time being as any rhythm or "schedule" would. Being at the mercy of a newborn takes precedence over following any rhythm and really.....our rhythm is being redeveloped again anyway!

Sleeping in increments of 1 1/2 -2 hours at a time and then not falling asleep right away makes most days and nights a bit of a blur. Then add into the mix: trying to maintain the laundry of 7 people because God forbid that gets out of hand........it's a nightmare trying to catch up and having had no rain for a couple of weeks, we'd be out of water in no time PLUS keeping up on the dishes because we run out of cups, bowls and spoons frequently, AND cooking! Not to mention the fillers in a day, diapers, nursing, boo boos that need kisses, a tantrum or two or three, snuggles and hugs, random baths just to keep the littles occupied......I'm sure you get the picture. I've been spared some of these tasks for the last month or so as we traveled through our rough patch but this marks the second full week of being on my own with all of these tasks! Sometimes it's A LOT! Sometimes it's OK! Sometimes I handle things fine and other times I don't.........all part of being a new(ish) Mom, with three littles  and two big kids with each one going in a different direction!!!!

Phew! It's been a marathon of weeks and days and today, although I knew it was a bit crazy to think I could actually BAKE something, I went ahead and tried anyway! Thankfully it was a success! It only took me about an hour to complete the batter as Seraphina was up and sleep and then up again and then asleep again; nursing, crying, snuggling, and nursing some more. The littles were preoccupied for the moment and then distracted and then preoccupied again. Somehow I managed to make a perfect batch of muffins which as we speak are just about gone! A dream come true!!!

So to celebrate our successful baking day, I'm sharing with you our beloved muffin recipe! It makes scrumptious, moist, delicate muffins that can be adapted to carry any fruit, flavor, and flour!

Blueberry Banana Almond Muffins

makes 18-24 muffins

1 cup of almond flour (meal)

2 cups of flour (we used King Arthur's AP flour)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1 tbsp. of baking powder

1 tsp.  salt

1/3 cup of brown sugar

2 mashed up bananas

3 beaten eggs

1 1/3 cup of buttermilk

(I never have buttermilk when I want it so to supplement

I use the right amount of milk with a healthy splash of raw apple cider vinegar!)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup of melted butter

1 cup of blueberries

For the topping

1 1/2 cups of rolled oats

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tbsp. of cinnamon

2 tbsp. of oil or melted butter

Whisk together the flours

Whisk in the baking soda, baking powder, sugar (not the brown sugar, the other one!), and salt

NOW, whisk in the brown sugar!

This is where I got pulled away from my batter making, so I don't have photos for the wet mixture.
Mash your bananas and beat your eggs. Mix them together and add the buttermilk. When the wet mixture
comes together add that to your dry ingredients. The trick here is NOT TO OVER MIX! Stir together the batter ever so gently, just a handful of times, leaving a rainbow of dry ingredients throughout. Add about 1/2 of your
blueberries and stir again, gently, and only about 3 or 4 times, still leaving some dry ingredients visible.

Scoop your batter into your muffin tins, either lined with paper cups or generously greased. Split the rest of the blueberries and top each of your muffins. Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and oil/butter. Split that among each muffin top and then bake for about 25-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Here is our Charlotte. Her sister caught a shot of her enjoying her muffin after having given herself a "makeover" with markers her Dad had given her! Oh, and she also is showing off her first hair cut ever, in all of her 4 1/2 years. She's got bangs!!!! It's amazing how a little cut can change ones appearance so drastically! She looks totally different! And she loves them!

I hope where ever you are you have fresh picked blueberries and great bangs! Cheers xoxo

Weekly Gratitude

Welcome to Gratitude! If you feel called to join along please link up in the comments section below with any post that expresses your gratitude and reverence for the "little things" in your life. Share on your blog, spread the word on Facebook or any other social outlet. Let's slow it down and enjoy our time and remember to be thankful for all the moments that make life worth while! 

This past month of intense living has reminded me of a LOT of things. Mostly, it has reminded me to continue to deeply practice mindful, meaningful, present living. I've noticed my wish to be completely free from the drama that I see so many I love living with, the sadness, the fear. All of those things that suck away the good moments or make them less meaningful. My awareness has peaked to a level that I am now able to realize the life that lies ahead, in all it's glory and wonder but also the realness that exists simply by being human. I'm no longer living in a bubble where our lives will remain untouched. I am now striving to live free from any forms, with no borders or boundaries. I wake up in the morning, tired and weary but know deep in my heart, and even if I'm unable to show it, that living here with the people I am blessed to call my family and friends is the most perfect life I could have ever dreamed of. Things go wrong and things fall apart.......but I have much trust and faith that even in those moments love is present and we will be alright.

So today (and everyday), I am grateful for the love and faith in my heart, my most amazing husband and beautiful children, and our many loving and wonderful friends and family as their lives are what make mine whole!

Summertime

"Now everyday the Summer sun

Climbs higher in the sky;

The farmer's fields are stacked with hay

In June and July.

Long holidays are here again,

Blue sea and sandy beaches.

The time of sun-ripe fruit has come,

Of pears and golden peaches."

~ From the Waldorf Book of Poetry



Sometimes all you need is MAGIC!

It was wonderfully sweet to come home, finally, after three weeks away. I've been home for one full week and it's been exciting, new, exhausting, frustrating, full of hugs and snuggles, tears, and continued lack of sleep.......it may have been one of the longest weeks on record! But, I wouldn't have changed anything as being with my family is worth every second; good, bad, pretty or ugly!

On another note, the littles have entered their "recovery" phase of whooping cough. They've been so brave and have truly come through this without so much as a whine or complaint. Truth be told, Charlotte, our 4 year old, has had the hardest time even though her cough was nothing in comparison to Kiki's. Charlotte is much more in control and less willing to resign to the coughing where as Kiki is quite a bit more willing to let her body do what it needs to and has full trust in those who are with her to hold her and help her through. It's been scary and unpredictable but through it all we've had an amazing support system including friends and family and wonderful doctors, three in fact, who have helped us come up with a plan to bring greater health, strength and vitality to our little girls as well as create a protective barrier around our infant. We're extremely fortunate that our baby Seraphina has maintained her health and continues to thrive.......we're also so grateful that Kiki and Charlotte have managed to avoid any secondary infections and are healing quickly and well.

One of the biggest sorrows I felt during this past month was being unable to care for my sick babies while I was away. I had to allow for God's grace to be with my husband 24 hours a day to follow his instincts and ask for help when he needed it. My husband has an amazing heart and a wild dedication to our family. He dove head first into caring for all four of our children, all day and all night. He was home from work for the entirety of the month of June; keeping house, caring for two very sick littles, following the big kids around and maintaining the last few weeks of school, two weeks of performances that Bella was taking part in at our local summer stock theatre, grocery shopping, and sneaking in visits to me. My husband is my hero!

While I was away, one of the ways my husband was able to comfort the littles and keep their minds off of all the fear that surrounded their coughing fits was through stories of faeries. He would take them outside in search of the evening faeries that would come visit our garden. They would play hide and seek with them, listen for them, tell stories about them and of course attempt to catch them! The photo below is of the littles having fallen asleep, finally, after a terrible evening of fitful coughs. My love told them a few stories of faeries and Charlotte had decided she would stay awake until she saw a faerie and capture one........as you can see, she didn't stay awake!

Sometimes, all you need is MAGIC to make everything alright! How do you bring magic into your life with your littles? We would love to hear your stories :o)

Sometimes simple doesn't mean easy

Well, since the last time I was able to post we were still expecting our newest little bundle of joy. On June 3rd at 11:39pm our little Seraphina Meadow Mairead came tumbling into our hearts. She came to us as a perfect 8 pound 12 ounce bundle of all the love we share together, my husband and I.

Sadly, the topsy turvy I speak of is not consistent with a typical coming home. A few weeks before Sera came into this world we had another bout of the a flu come through our home. The week she came home my beloved husband spent numerous days at the doctors mixed in with two ER visits for our Kiki who was not overcoming the "flu" we thought she'd had and had been continuously told is what she was ill with and would have to wait it out. Sera was home for one week when we found out Kiki had actually contracted whooping cough. The one illness I feared the most........and now our newly born babe had been exposed and was in real danger of contracting this horrific illness. By the grace of God, Kiki has managed very, very well. She's a trooper and is strong and bouncing back, however exhausted, she's going to be fine. Sera and I left our home to stay with my sister while Kiki finished the required round of antibiotics (before we found out it was whooping cough) then once we found out we'd left again (which is when Charlotte entered the throes of whooping cough herself) while the rest of us, including our little Sera, finished ours. Anything to try to keep our baby safe although as of today, she has begun a bit of a cough........trying not to act or think in fear, but it's hard. The last thing anyone wants to see is an itty bitty babe plagued with whooping cough........

Magically my husband (who has left work until my return as I'm unable to care for our newborn as well as two littles with whooping cough) and I who haven't slept in weeks, literally, have managed to somehow love each other more and more and be ever present and in the moment with our kids. Him more than me as I've been removed in order to care for Sera, but individually........the "ride" has been enlightening on so many levels. Life can and will change with every moment. Hold on to the loves and all the goodness in your life and give thanks. If anything, through bleary eyes and a heavy heart I hold my little Sera up and know that all will be well. All is well as long as I can hold my faith in God and Universe to provide.  So, in an effort to keep our strength and sanity we're asking for prayers for healing and protection, to keep our Kiki and Charlotte on the road to recovery as well as for Sera.......that she be protected and held in the light of Angels to keep her from harms way. And for Lee and and myself.......just love and light so that our hearts may be healed from the fear that has plagued us. 

As the days go on, I hope to update as I am able...........hugs to you all for reading this and for holding us in the Grace and Light and for all the love that surrounds us.