Yummy breakfast

Let's start with last night, first.  We had a bon fire, as seems to be a custom of ours when the weather turns colder. We had a couple of families over and it turned out to be a wonderful night.  The girls wanted to dress up, as we are not partaking in halloween.  That was fine by us, as there is no harm in playing dress up.  We made some healthy candy apples, some hot cider and a wee bit illegal hot cocoa drink (no cocoa is allowed on the GAPS, but we did make it with homemade almond milk :-)).  The apples didn't turn out too great as we didn't allow enough time for the caramel to cool properly.  They still tasted yummy. 

This morning it was time to think what we would have for breakfast.  Eggs?  Ugh.  Smoothie?  That was a favorite choice, but no frozen bananas around.  Hmmmm.  An almond muffin creation?  Nah.  How about cake?  Yes!  There was a white bean vanilla cake recipe that I was hoping we could use for our birthday celebrations.  I thought about waiting till Aubrey's birthday to use it.  But then I thought, what happens if it tastes bad?  So I made up one trial cake.  It is not like a box cake, obviously, as it's made with white beans.  But we've been on the GAPS diet now for two months, and this was a wonderful treat.  I used less honey, as we were eating it for breakfast.  But everyone thought that that it didn't need any more honey, they liked it just the way it was.  Everyone wanted seconds!  But we didn't have any.  We only got one piece each.  Go HERE for the recipe.  I made up some strawberry topping, and we had a bit of our caramel sauce left over from last night that we drizzled on top.  It was a winner.

Homeschooling.  I had some thoughts on that today.  Some good, some sad.  I've been a bit consumed lately with other things on my mind, as so I haven't put much thought into our schooling.  I really do need to read the whole Charlotte Mason series.  I will make it apart of 'my curriculum' :-)  Anyways, there are some wonderful blogs out there that others journal about their experiences with Mason's philosophy of education.  Wow, I have so much to learn.  And here was the sad part...I really wish I had come accross this philosophy before we started homeschooling.  I know I can't turn back the hands of time.  I just think about all there is to learn about this schooling philosophy, and how short our time is left with Isabella's home education.  Only four more years!  I need to dig in!  Plus I realized that when I start teaching Aubrey the basics, Isabella will have graduated!!!  Oh. My. Goodness.  The good news is that I am glad I found this philosophy at all, and that we *all* will benefit us.  I am praying that Isabella will be able to take what she has learned and apply it to all her life.  Speaking of which we are needing to make some big changes in how we do life.  Yes, I've talked about this before, and we have implemented a few things here and there.  But every day it is more evident how far off the path we are. 

Off to life.  Errands to run, food to make, school to do, outside time to partake.

Isabella on the prairie.

Isabella better watch out for the Indians.

Cake time!  Nothing like being able to eat cake for breakfast :-)

Pictures with captions...no time for a real post

Some weeds right outstid our door.

I really want to try to get the hang of sun flares.  This is my second attempt.  I'm not really sure how other people do it.  I'll have to look into it...you know...in my spare time :-)

Just practicing trying to take pics of different objects at different angles.

Probably some photography no-no, but I really liked how the sun was streaming down right no her face.

Saoirse is usually very willing to get her photo taken.

Our rooster.

The past few days were beautiful!  In the upper 70's.

I made sure we got some outside play time in.

Lots of digging going on around here.

What is this goat up to?

Very silly indeed.  Face masks are not for eating.

When I came over to her, she was acting all innocent.

A new friend we made as we were making our way inside.

Some new digs for me :-)  The last time I bought a pair of everyday shoes was 8 years ago.  I find it very hard to get a pair of shoes that look decent and are comfortable.

Clog style shoes.  Dansko.  Wonderful.  But expensive!

Yesterday was going to be the last 'warm' day of the season (so it seems).  So we made for the park with our lunch.

Children all abuzz over the food.  They weren't the only ones.  After about 10 minutes the bees were buzzing!  So we finished our lunch in the van.

Chicken salad.  A great way for us to use up left over chicken that isn't enough for another meal (by itself).

A sprinkle of parmesan cheese is a must.

After we ate the kids ran for the playground.  I held back and had a photo shoot with my yarn.

My new work in progress. Saw this wonderful pattern on the Attic 24 site.  I needed to get the colors out in the sun.  I'm having a hard time seeing if the colors are working.

I'm not too fond of the yellow.  I really wanted the darker yellow, but they don't sell it at the store.  After using it I am getting used to it.  However, I really wanted a couple extra colors in there.  I'm not sure if they are going to work.

These are the original colors I was going with.  On the left is the beginning of the blanket.  After the red would be the blue you see on the left.      

On the right, you can sort of make out the dark purple I started to add in.  It seems to go with all the colors, but the yellow.  After the purple would be the blue, then white, and then start over from the beginning.  Just as I lined up the balls of yarn above.  But it seems the purple just kind of doesn't belong.  What do you all think?

While I was doing my yarn photo shoot, this is what the baby was doing.  He was sitting right next to me playing with my camera bag.

All the kids enjoyed the new area of the playground.

Climbing the 'rock'.

Jonah up next.

Isabella had a bit of a problem with this part of the the playground :-)

Jonah giving Moira a spin.

Flannery showing off.

Jed having a fun time navigating things.

I attempted to get a group shot of all the kids.  I'm looking to re-do my blog header. No such luck. It was *very* sunny out.  So I could only find shade or full sun.  Not the best.  Here was one attempt.

I really liked the location, but way too sunny. On top of it I over exposed the picture.  Alrighty, how about a third time?

No, too many shadows on the faces.  But I thought it would look cute with them on the "pods".  Oh, well, I'll have to try again later.

Isabella brought her journal along.  It seems to be her constant companion.

Flannery begged me to take a picture of them on the swings.

Pirate Jonah.

Big sis with little bro.

Aubrey loves the swing.

Sweet, sweet, footy goodness :-) I love baby feet.

Today was totally different!  This was what it looked like out back.

Sweaters, jackets, socks and blankets!  (Oh, my)

Now that's the way to warm up!

A new look

This was something I was thinking about doing for a while now, changing up my Blogger template.  I got the nudge when I received a comment about my pictures being all squished.  On my computer they look blurry.  To me, this was rather annoying :-)  So this morning I tried to change things up.  I'm not sure if Blogger is having issues, or they limited their editing possibilities.  Either way, things are not as I would want them to be, still.  Sooner or later (probably later :-)) it will get there.  Until then, please excuse the mess, that I call "my blog".  My goal is to get more of the look of my photography blog.

In other news....I've sat down with the girls a few days in a row now to talk about how things need to work around here.  Lets just say things have been a bit chaotic.  My plan is to totally go through each room, getting rid of all non-essential stuff.  For example in their bedroom there will only be their beds, and they will each get a book, journal and pen.  That's it.  This is going to take a lot of work, but it is necessary to save my sanity.  Basically the straw that broke the camels back was the fact that we got the house all cleaned.  Then for a few days I made sure each dish was done, and all the little things got picked up throughout the day.  Then I had a bad day, was too tired, and in the waking hours of that one day our house was trashed.  I'm not talking about a bit messy, I mean TRASHED.  As in, I would be totally embarrassed if someone came by unexpectedly.  Oy.  So we are going to try to cut down on all the things that need taken care of.  Then we will be reassigning room chores.  The girls have been having the same room chores for the past two years or so.  Time to change things up.

In Saoirse news....That same day of her adjustment she had a lot more dizziness and headache.  Yesterday (day2) she was complaining more about her head and dizziness than normal. Today, she said her headache was better, but she's still really dizzy.  I'm concerned a bit since her headache, which was once bouncing around to different spots, has been static in her forehead.  She goes back on Friday for us to see if she retained her adjustment.  We will go from there as to what to do next. 

Flannery woke up this morning with a sore throat and headache.  Really?  At this point I may give everyone daily doses of Motrin just so I can pretend no one is sick :-)  Never mind we still have our "bug" problem, and I have not been able to keep on top of everyone putting on the cream and changing sheets daily.  I am hoping to do what I can to keep them at bay, and then hit it hard when we come up for air.  Right now I feel we are drowning.  Too much work, and not enough time to get it done.  One major problem is laziness, my children's laziness.  Must. Be. Stopped.  Ha!  No, seriously, I've been really angry about all the issues going on around here.  Yes, I know anger isn't going to help.  I've been in prayer for direction.  I don't have answers yet.  I am proceeding with just clearing out things and am hoping an answer will be given soon.  I'm thinking some radical stuff needs to happen to change our ship around.  I may just keep my laptop out to check email, and the other computers be put up for now.  There are so many excuses we make for them being here, but they are a big hindrance in our family for right now.  We really, really need to focus on doing things as a family.  Learning skills, doing projects, NOT surfing, or playing games.  Please note, I'm just as much guilty as anyone else is in the house.  We have the computers locked, but I think it's a lot like food....if it's there we will eat it.  If it's not, we won't eat it.  So the computers need to go, they are only here due to our own addiction to them.  Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot from reading blogs and what not, but for  a season I think the surfing needs to go.  I may only allow us to blog on the weekend and block all other sites.  In the meantime we purge.  Although all that purging will go in our attic! Right now I do not have time to go through it all to see if we really need to keep it.  I think if it's up there and we forget about it, then we can get rid of it.  If we keep saying, "gosh, I wish we had that item down here...", then we can think about bringing it down after a few months. 

Alrighty, everyone is done eating breakfast, so off to do school, and purge :-)

The fair, and other stuff

First my update on Saoirse.  Her issue?  She was the first to come down with the croup. 

Along with the hacking cough also came a headache and dizziness.  No biggie, she's sick, it's to be expected.  However, three weeks later, the cough gone, she is still feeling dizzy and has been having daily headaches (unknown to me).  She's not dizzy all the time, nor are the headaches there all the time, but certainly to be having them for three weeks is a bit much.  We were thinking it was an inner ear problem.  I was thinking that up until last night when she told me she had a headache.  Then she said she's been having headaches ever since the dizziness started.  Well, that pretty much threw me for a loop.  Now what?  So we decided to first take her to the chiropractor.  Since this came on at the same time as her illness I was assuming it may have been related to it.  However, we've had too many 'coincidences' of late and I wanted to make sure we covered our bases.  But no need for anything more invasive or extensive if she just needed an adjustment. 

We were able to get an appointment for this morning.  Turns out her head wasn't screwed on right :-)  In other words, she was waaaayyy out of alignment.  With the adjustment the chiropractor said she immediately felt her head get warm (a sign that blood was flowing in) and the swollen lymph node on the back of her head was almost gone after a few minutes.  We think at this time that it was being out of alignment that contributed to her dizziness and headaches.  We are to take her back at the end of the week to have her adjusted one more time.  We are to keep track of her dizziness and headaches to make sure they are getting better.  If not, then we take a different step.  Until then, we wait and see.

I finally was able to upload some of the photos from the state fair we went to last week.  It was very windy and cold!  By the time we were leaving the wind died down.  Figures.  But we all had fun.  We were all worn out by the time we got home.

After looking at all the animals we took a lunch break.  I wish I could say that I packed us a GAPS lunch.  Not so.  I wish I did, as Moira got very ill later that night!  This is the one time we have all cheated.  Not bad for being on the diet for two months. 

Besides food and ride tickets we made one other purchase, an iron triangle.  Let's just say that yelling (screaming) out back to get everyone inside was growing old.  We plan on hanging this up at our back door.  This should also  take care of the, "I didn't hear you." claim :-)

Aubrey was quite fascinated with the thing.

He confirms that it is indeed loud!

Jed was waiting for the rest of us to get done eating.

Food on the go.

There was LOTS to see for this little guy.

Flannery and Saoirse were blessed with a free sample.  It's a clay frog.

Pretty cute.

Flannery counting out her change to see if she has enough money for a trinket.

Moira up on the Farris wheel.  I can assure you I did NOT take this picture.  Jeremiah and the older three girls went up.  You couldn't pay me to get on that  thing.  They were all scared at some point as it was so windy the whole thing was shaking.

Flannery on the death, er I mean, farris wheel.

Isabella on said wheel.

The rest of us, who were not on the wheel :-)  I was trying to get Jed to follow my finger up to see everyone on the farris wheel.  He still has a hard time with directions (spacial).  He finally got it, but it took quite a while.

Isabella just hanging out.  We were waiting for Jeremiah to get back with the ride tickets.

See, everyone was tired by the end of the day :-)  Isabella walked around with him like this a long time.