Sunday with King Arthur

No, no royalty arrived at our house this morning...however some royally good pancakes did!

You see Morgan has a hate hate relationship with vegetables and fruits (although she wanted me to note that applesauce is made of apples and she likes that). Because of that she has also struggled with some crampy stomach issues from time to time - no need to go into details there - but in order to attempt to achieve better digestive health we've been trying to alter her diet slowly.

 

This morning - revised pancakes and where our friend the king comes in.  Typically whole wheat flour takes some work and an alteration of taste / texture buds to get used to, luckily though I found King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour - it's still whole wheat just lighter in texture and more like the traditional all purpose. 

The results have offered success in that small person actually eats the end product(s) - no "this tastes weird" commentary - I swear she has some super sensed taste buds (then again, maybe all children do since they haven't been dulled by years of eating yet). Anyhow, if you too have been looking for some semi-revised pancakes (with digestive benefits) here is our recipe:

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar (honestly I think with the van. soy milk the sugar could be left out - and honey, or other sweetener could be used instead)

1 scoop flax seed powder (sure flax oil would be just fine and this can be left out)

3/4 cup vanilla soy milk (with a couple extra tbsps as needed - reg. milk works too just add a tsp. of vanilla is you sub.)

1 egg

1 1/2 tbsps oil 

If you need a lot the recipe measurements would need to be doubled, but for us this provides enough for breakfast and a few extra to save in the fridge and heat up during the week. 

ps - this is a flour based semi-bread product - so does success here count toward my bread goal... ha ha

What Good Mornings Are Made Of

- Sleeping in until 8:45 a.m.

- A daughter who says "mama, you stay here and watch a show you like, I'll go in the other room"

- Coming out to find a fully dressed child - no less than 10 minutes after she woke up

- then... seeing same dressed child make her own breakfast and offer to make mine...

I wonder the chances of a replay tomorrow morning???             :-)

I Won!!!

Ok - this is a little silly to be this excited - but I never really win anything... So, because I WON SOMETHING today - I am just really bouncy super-excited and had to share. You see, in addition to maintaining a blog I also follow other blogs and every so often people offer give aways - you just leave a comment and if they select your number you win. 

This specific give away is a book - and there were 7 potential winners - AND out of 524 people I was one of the 7!!!  I'm excited to read it and feel a strong obligation to pass it along afterward... I feel it's only right to pass along the giving...

Hope everyone has had a great week and weekend - new post to come soon. Morgan had her investiture ceremony this afternoon - that means she is "officially" a girl scout! Also - she tested for and received her white belt on Thursday - picture to come!

 

What a Lucky Duck...

Since it is the weekend, and especially given the case that Morgan had such a good report card, I decided to take her to the children's museum in Truckee. It's a relatively short drive, but given weather / shortened hours during the summer, etc... we don't make it up there very often. 

We headed up in the morning and spent a little over two hours - she was able to make a mask in their mask workshop, play in the farm, and climb all over the jungle gym. Everything is indoor and "pretend" and she loves it. I even got to have my first real moment of "old" when I had to explain what a rotary phone was and show her how it works (they have one hanging in the play house).  I remember using such a phone, she has barely seen a phone attached to a wall. :-) 

We also got a chance to check out the NW library - one of the only ones that I / she has not been too. I have to say there really is benefit to checking out the different libraries - they all have their own look and layout and they all have different materials / workshops available. We had already been to our normal library location Friday night, but can you ever have too many books?  As with many of our recurring themes I think you can tell by now - we love the library! 

Needless to say I now have a very tired child laying on the floor in her "blanket fort" watching Snow White and fighting desperately not to fall asleep.... 

"Bear" with Us.

This is "Bear".  

Bear is Morgan's very favorite Bear and he travels with us everywhere we go (even hangs out in the front pocket of her backpack during the school day).  Bear is VERY loved!

The Results Are In....

Morgan got her "report card" yesterday (it's actually more of an assessment) - but regardless of name - she is doing so well.....

Ummm.. have I mentioned how proud I am of my daughter.... :-)  

Battle(s) with Bread...

I have to say my personal battle has been bread. Not the liking of bread, or the over-eating of bread - simply the baking of bread. 

I have tried a few times with less than stellar results - and frankly I want some stellar results.

 :-) so... 2010 is my year for bread. It's gonna happen - not asking for miracles, just want to make some decent rolls or something.

Morgan asked what we would do with the bread - to which I answered eat it, possibly, unless it's a fail and then - well then we will have to find some other use for it's industrial strength "orbage". Yes, orbage is not a word - but it fits - because the bread is like an orb - and it's also kind of like garbage when it goes bad, ha ha. In any case, I digress, she agreed with the eating of the bread and went on to discuss that we can eat bread for lunch, or dinner, or breakfast. Yes, bread - our versatile little friend from the oven.

So may the power of the flour be with our household.... May the gluten stay soft (or whatever state if should retain)... May the yeast proof long enough and at the right temperature... and may we never have to figure out what to do with bread "orbage".

Cookie Roundup

This weekend we had not only a troop meeting, but also were able to attend the Girl Scout cookie carnival. When we arrived the only way to explain it was - Oh My Gosh... Girls everywhere. I think for our little ones it was definitely overwhelming - their height lent to being like ants among giants. Luckily as the day went on it cleared out a little bit and they were better able to navigate the room and play the games. I think all had fun - and ALL (parents included) were definitely tired by the end.  

Unfortunately for Morgan she got a bloody nose during the carnival - luckily we were able to find a semi-hidden hallway to lay her down until it stopped. I felt so bad that she had the gusher happen during the event - but she took it all in stride and did not seem too bothered. Another piece of luck was that she got a t-shirt for attending the event that could cover her dirtied shirt. My poor little one and her ever-troubled nose. 

You Like Cookies....

Yes You Do... :-)  Girl scout cookies went on sale - Sunday January 10th. So... if you would like some cookies (and yes, we can ship them) let us know.  

We have:

Cost is $4.00 / box this year (I know it's a little pricey... But for every box .50 cents goes to the troop.

The Genetics of Shopping...

Yesterday I took Brandon shopping.... Now, it has been some time since I have been clothes shopping with Brandon, and for that matter a boy... What I can say is there is a HUGE difference between shopping with boys and girls. Shopping with Morgan looks like this:

Spending lots of time perusing all the various clothing options, commenting on the cuteness, piling up the "try on" pile and liking the idea of trying it on, examining each piece in the mirror (again commenting on the cuteness) and also future planning on which piece could go with which, neatly arranging each piece of clothing (placed back on the hangers), and budgeting every last available dollar - waste not want not! :-) 

Shopping with Brandon:

A clear hesitation to even shop in the first place, a general idea of what type of clothes he likes (e.g. sweatshirts, etc..), no clear preference on style / look - simply function , a look at you of "seriously???" when you direct him toward the fitting room. One word answers from the fitting room - 

how do they fit? ok.

ok good? or ok just ok could be better? um - good. 

do you like them? yeah. 

Followed by the exit of the fitting room with a piled up armful of clothes and a handful of hanger - what do I do with these? ha ha ha

SUCH a difference - not that I was unaware of the general male dislike of clothes shopping - I guess I just never realized it was some built in chromosome that comes along with the XY part of their make up.

OH - and the other HUGE part of shopping with a boy - money left over! He still has $20 left over that he chose to save - you know for later when his size changes, or the season changes... (yep this was his actual reasoning) That actually had to be the biggest difference of all.

While shopping may not be a favorite he still did well at the end of the day - oh and did have interest in one thing - a belt. He needed a belt - so a belt he purchased. Guys - simple, functional, streamlined shopping.

You Say Art Desk... I Say....

HOMEWORK space.... :-) It turns out the art desk is not only a perfect craft haven but also a fabulous space for homework! Have to love all thing multi-purpose.

Morgan is having a good week back in school and has a couple fun things on the horizon. First her class now gets to take bi-weekly trips to the library (the branch we usually frequent as well) - she loves the library and this way will get weekly trips. 

Second thing - she starts karate this week.  Her school offers a karate program (a local studio has a traveling dojo program) every week. She asked if she could join and given the fact that it is right there - why not I say. We'll see what she thinks after her first class, hopefully it meets her expectations.

Putting the "New" in the New Year...

New Years - To me too many people focus on all the bad around this time, all the things that were wrong with last year - all the things that we failed at and want to do better (not that there is anything wrong with trying for better) - but I think a 180 spin of thinking can make all the difference... In our case on January 1st we do not focus on what we will do differently based on

 what was bad the year before, but rather what we want to try and do that is new, New Years Day = New Activity.

This year our new activity was ice skating.  Morgan has been asking to ice skate for the last year and at 5 she was ready to try.  I thought not only was this a good "new activity" but it also seemed a good day given many people would be in recovery mode and therefore not up early enough for morning skate session AND the rink is outdoors - so a semi-greyish day can keep crowds at bay too!

We arrived around 10:30 and there were only a few people. The first go round was definitely sketchy - I have not skated in years and Morgan was getting used to the ice and therefore clinging to the wall. But after that first time we got used to the feel of the skates and the ice and quickly picked up pace. By the end of our morning she was skating away from the wall (holding on to my hand) and keeping a small amount of speed. I'm sure will go again before the end of the season.

We also ended up with two other "new things" sort of by coincidence - thing #1 - buffet. Morgan was hungry after skating and in thinking about where we could go I considered the buffet. She has never been, but I think is a fan. Choices, choices, choices and all the dessert you want - what kid would not. 

Thing #2 was the arrival of her Highlights magazine (thank you Auntie Ellen). She has never had a magazine subscription that arrives in the mail before and I think all kids are a fan of getting their own mail.  Not a bad tally for our day of new!

Lights with Sounds of TSO

On our way home Christmas night we drove around to look at some Christmas lights - one house in particular always has a big programmed show with lights and music. We sat outside the house (in our warm car) and watched three songs worth (at least).  Morgan thought it was fantastic - Lily was not so much a fan of people walking near the car (as you will hear in the background).