Winter Sunshine

Perusing one of my favorite blogs, Like Mother Like Daughter, and I just read this:

So much of how we live the spiritual side of our lives as mothers and wives has to do with how we live the feeding and clothing side. Since that's inescapable, I long ago decided to embrace it.

That is one of the reasons I love her blog.  Down to earth, traditional Christian, practical, and so sweet!  The post that quote is from is something like preparing for Easter or something (which, crazily enough, isn't as far away as it seems!) but that little paragraph leaped out at me.

It's a good day here.  Sunshine is streaming through the windows, the kids all slept in this morning, so I could take a shower and blow dry my hair, and the house looks so clean and spacious after removing the Christmas decorations.  Plus, I just started a seasonally appropriate decorating project that I'll share with you when I've finished it.  It's great to have a project to work on when you don't feel like reading and learning something any more.  Use your hands!  I now have a craft cabinet, a craft bag (alas, full of unfinished Christmas ornament presents that are slowly being finished—should I mail them out super late, or send them along next year?), and a basket full of my aforementioned project in progress.

There's a sneak peak into my project.  Can you guess what it is?  There's another hint in the top photo.  Look above the TV.

All these physical things contribute to my good mood.  The clean house, the ongoing project, the sunshine.  I can't just think myself into a good frame of mind.  I can't ignore these physical things and their impact on my soul—which is I think what Dear Aunty Leila was saying with those two little sentences quoted above.

Anyway, it is now 10AM and time for some small amount of school here.  Some letter practice, a math activity (butterfly mosaics? board games? Cuisinaire rods?). We read about Saint Simeon from Christina's True Heros, by Maria Khoury during breakfast this morning.  Maybe we'll get some kind of project or activity in this afternoon, but it doesn't usually happen.  I do want to continue working on our Creation Book from The Garden of the Theotokos curriculum.  We'll finish it eventually.

Hope you are all staying warm and cozy in spite of this:

A photo of our street from the recent Thundersnowpocalypse on Wednesday morning.

Happy Feast of the Presentation!

Baked Oatmeal

I first discovered this dish at Covenant Point Bible Camp.  I still remember one of the counselors declaring that it would sit in your stomach for hours.  (I think in a good way!)  I can't remember if it was at a summer camp or one of their winter weekends, but it seems made for Winter.   I seem to recall a generous layer of some kind of brown sugar topping on their version.  Maybe I'll try to recreate that some day.  That would probably involve using a little less sweetener in the Baked Oatmeal itself.

This recipe serves about four hungry adults and at least two kids five or under.  :)

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8x8 pyrex dish.

Mix dry ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 to 1 c. brown sugar (I use 1/2c.)*
2tsp. baking powder
1tsp. cinnamon
1tsp. salt

Mix wet ingredients:
1c. applesauce
1tsp. vanilla
2 eggs (or 2 eggs worth egg replacer)
1/2c. rice milk (or milk)
*We were out of brown sug today, so I subbed 1/2c. honey + 1/4c. maple syrup, mixed with the wet ingredients. It was a little too sweet, but the flavor was great!

Combine thoroughly and pour into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. A tester poked in the middle will not come out completely clean, but cook it until it is as solid (or as browned) as you like.  (Probably any more than 30 minutes is too much, though.)

Optional: You can also stir into the batter 1/2 to 1c. blueberries/cranberries/nuts/raisins/etc., but my kids like everything plain these days. Sigh.

Eat warm with milk poured over it and with other toppings of choice. :)
 
(With various substitutions, this can be Lenten!  I originally googled this hoping for a vegan version.  This was my favorite because it used a lot of oats and has a good flavor.  It doesn't rise as high with the egg replacer, but it is quite good that way.)

(This is my reworking of a this recipe.)

Somebody is making it difficult for me to write blog entries.

Can you guess which one it might be?  These first two photos are deceiving because the Little One looks happy.

That's more like it!  Actually, he's quite the happy baby.  Loves to smile at everyone.  But he doesn't like to nap for more than thirty minutes at a time.  And interestingly, the length of time he's been doing things this way corresponds to the length of time since my last blog entry.  Huh.

At least he falls asleep quickly.  And he does take four or five naps a day now.  But I got kinda spoiled by him taking usually two one and a half hour naps and one thirty minute nap.  Thirty minutes is not much of a break or much of a chance to get things done. 

Somehow, I feel like I've been really productive since we started homeschooling again after the holidays, though.  We moved to a slightly larger apartment the week before Christmas (it was just upstairs, so don't pity us too much, but it was still rather disruptive), and since we moved, laundry and housecleaning have fallen into place a lot better.  It helps that the kids now have a large playroom upstairs and that most of their toys stay up there (per parental request).  For some reason, I seem to have found a system of laundry that works well for me.  I've also found a system (method? technique? set of expectations?) of homeschooling that I am comfortable with.  I'll write about those things sometime if The Boy ever decides to start napping.

But right now, I think he's just soiled his diaper.  Such a cute little interruption, though.  Well, not the soiling part.  But he's a cute Little Boy.

Next Time

It's been a couple of years, but I think I have finally figured out what I will say "next time."

I'm sorry, nursing in public is something I feel very strongly about.  I think the more we see women caring for their babies in public and doing so comfortably, the more women will feel comfortable making the decision to have babies and be mothers.

What do you think?  Is this respectful enough?  Does it get my point across that I think forcing a nursing mother to nurse elsewhere may contribute to our culture of intentional childlessness and abortion?   I truly want to be respectful of the hypothetical person asking me to leave, but I very firmly believe that welcoming mothers and children into everyday settings is important for these reasons.  I'm honestly interested in your opinions, so please share.

Map of American English dialects

Being an English Major, grammar geek, and fan of all things linguistic, this post delighted and distracted me for a good while:

Patrick Madrid: Map of American English dialects

Fascinating! (Thank you, husband!)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our tree and front window with stockings hung by the windows (no chimney) with care.

A view from that window: Most definitely a white Christmas!

Our hodgepodge tree.  The kids and Dad decorated while I cooked the traditional Christmas coffee cake.  I don't think I have pictures of that, though!  Maybe on my phone?

[coffee cake photo here!!]

One of our Nativity scenes.  Baby Jesus has arrived!

Our Christmas card display. I know it sort of looks like a pile stuck to the wall, but this is where I display birthday and other seasonal or Thank You cards throughout the year, so I love to switch it over to Christmas at this time of year!  I used to dread Christmas cards because it reminded me that I never get around to sending them.  Thanks to my dear husband who now takes care of this, I can enjoy each card and know that we've reciprocated!  What would I do without you, My Dear?

My shy princess.

My boy.  With his new musical toy.

My not-so-shy-any-more princess.

There's that lovely smile.  :)

Finally, a use for the neglected Boppy pillow. (Opie is the orange kitty, and Faust is the Siamese or Himalayan or whatever he is.)

 

 

 

My first roast duck.  It was a success!

Some of the rest of the feast.

The girls at dinner—I think Maggie's going to eat that whole plate of potatoes.

Still sleeping, although they seem to have shifted positions.

A multi-generational Christmas trip downtown later in the week (included grandparents, kids, uncle, parents).  I think you can see my reflection taking the picture in the El window.

The Daley Plaza Christmas tree as seen through whatever that weird piece of Chicago art is.

Another view.  Some years they have piled many little trees, but this year it was a single giant tree!

Me and my boy in our favorite coat made to go around a baby in a carrier.  The monkey hat was a gift from his Aunt/godmamma.

This is the family photo where the average of the sum total of our expressions comes out at "fairly pleasant."  

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us!

Schrodinger's Coffee

I keep chuckling over this, so go read it yourself.