Canvas Is Therapy

“There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful, by work, love, art and knowledge.” Friedrich Nietzsche

Jane age 7.

 Jane painted the above two paintings for her dance teachers. We used some Degas to get us started. The top one has yellow dots because her ballet dance is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Jacob age 4.

Jacob picked out the leopard for his painting. We glued it onto his canvas together, then I went downstairs. When I came back he had already painted the black background and grey dots totally on his own. I love how he did his initials. 

Charlie age 5.

 I was truly impressed with this one. 

Day 2 Batch 2

BLUE

My camera is old and not good and I don't know anything about photography but these two made the pictures look good anyway. And YES they always dress this good and YES their names are Mark and Mariah which sounds so good together and YES they are best friends and YES Mariah woke up to Jane staring at her two days in a row. and YES I've been missing them all day today because they left this morning. and YES I have one million more pictures of them, don't you worry.

 Holy SMOKEHOUSE Mariah! She makes giant cupcakes with peanut butter icing too.

Sleepy Boys

This is why kids have to share a bedroom. 

Megan is a Magin

Magin, we went to stay'n play and you weren't there and it was so deflating. Then, Timmy got to talk to you today and I was intensely jealous. We had a playdough session this morning for Scarlet's birthday and even made your chocolate kind and now WE MISS MAGIN!

ART

If you were wondering who has the coolest skin for their technology... its me.

Its totally a bookshelf.

My brothers teased that the only reason I wanted a cell phone was to shop on etsy for it- so true, so true.

Every Spring I Shall Post This Poem

Spring still makes spring in the mind

            When sixty years are told;

Love wakes anew this throbbing heart,

            And we are never old;

Over the winter glaciers

            I see the summer glow,

And through the wild-piled snow-drift

            The warm rosebuds below.

~Emerson

3... 2... 1... GO!!!

My first official race-  the Moonlight 10k run. I'd been told to be careful because I might catch the race bug but that's for sure not what happened. It was fun to experience but I am feeling no urge to be a regular at the races. I'm not good at exerting myself, its just not my thing. The sadness was that Tim signed up to do it with me but Scarlet was sick and we didn't want to abandon her in her time of need with a babysitter so he stayed home and I went alone. Last minute Paul, Tim's brother-in-law took Tim's spot and came with me. I was impressed that he wanted to spontaneously run 10k in the dark and it was snowing. He did awesome, I was really proud of him for doing it without any preparation.

So Charlie before I left told me I was going to win. I quickly told him that some people were really good runners so I wouldn't win but that was nice to say and he said, "No mom, you'll win because Jesus will help you." Well after that reasoning I figured I had a pretty good chance. 49 minutes later I felt like this:

Jane was awake when I got home and so I was being a little dramatic for her. But I really was tired...

What in thunder are these kids learning about these days...

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

-Albert Einstein

This is Jacob's project. He studied insects for a couple of months and he made this 

poster board at the end. Feel free to call him and ask what an insect is or to learn more about ladybugs.

 

This is Charlie's. He's been diligently collecting tree samples in these past winter months. I brought home the big round leaves from Mexico for him. Notice how his pine tree picture he drew has real needles glued to it.

Jane inspired all of us to pay more attention to the birds around us. I think we will continue studying birds indefinitely. Notice she found a real bird wing to glue on to her poster. 

 Having neighbors telling me my kids are in the trees is one thing, but me being up on a ladder and then in a tree retrieving this birds nest, crossed the homeschool line, right about when a  lady from our ward pulled up our driveway while I was stuck up there. It was genuinely super embarrassing. But look how cool it is, obviously worth it.

Do not ask me why Jane put a strawberry by the dead bird for the picture??

She made pine cone bird feeders. Roll a pine cone in peanut butter and then roll it in seeds. Hang it from a tree and voila.

I love catching these intense play moments. I disappear and all three of them are in "playland".

Budding artists. Its so adorable picking them up from their art classes and seeing them at an easel with aprons on.

Cotton candy again with our bestest pals.

We try and do this kind of thing while dads at work... 

It was sheer joy for them to roll around and fly in the feathers. 

Let's talk about eating books.

Franz Kafka,

"A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul."

I just finished devouring 

The Concord Quartet 

Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, 

and the Friendship that Freed the American Mind

By Samuel A. Schreiner Jr. 

I'm officially a Transcendentalism expert. Ask me anything you need to know. My fascination was born when I finished reading Walden (which changed my life. Thank you Amber.) I can't get enough ever since. However, I assure you, I have no plans to become and individualist anarchist in the near future. The free love, and nudism aspects of the movement obviously aren't going to work for me, although there's something to be said for the bohemian fashion style, and vegetarianism :0)

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

~Chinese Proverb

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention."

~Sir Francis Bacon

You Will Be Freed

Organic Play

I would love to play in front of this window. 

Quote-a-rama

Early this morning I ask Jane, "Why are you so happy, you stayed up so late and it's so early?"
Jane answers, "Oh I don't know mom, I'm just such a morning hummingbird."

Eli and Jenn had their new little peanut today. My first little niece. Love her.

Yummy Raw

Dessert

Nut Butter Cups

makes about 8 cups ~ 

1/2 cup almond butter (I made peanut butter)

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (I didn't have any of this)

2 tablespoons agave

pinch salt

1/2 cup coconut oil (make sure it's a quality brand)

3/4 cup raw cacao powder (don't worry it's only a million dollars a bag)

6 tablespoons agave (I added honey to sweeten it up)

pinch salt 

This is a very basic version of the nut butter cup. Mix together the almond butter, nutritional yeast, agave, and salt. Form into round disks that will fit inside cupcake liners (I rolled small balls then flatened them with the back of a spoon) and place on parchment paper. Stick in the freezer until chilled well.

Melt the cacao butter or coconut oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Pour a thin layer of chocolate into cupcake liners and then put in the freezer to chill to harden. 

Put the nut butter disk on top of the frozen chocolate layer and pour on another layer of chocolate. Freeze this for about a half hour. Guilt free Reese PB cups- what more could you ask for in this life...

Dinner

Pad Thai

(as in Raw Pad Thai, not King and I on Whyte Pad Thai- 

my fave restaurant ever. Thanks for the good times Voravongs...).

2 medium zucchini

1 carrot

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

large handful mung bean sprouts

(I added asian cabbage)

sauce

4 tablespoons almond butter 

1/2 in piece ginger, peeled

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon agave

1/2 teaspoon cayenne (thanks Corrine for the real deal hot spice mix from Italy. Worked like a charm!)

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 tablespoons chopped cashews

This dish made me fall in love with raw food all over again and is something I can see going over well with non raw friends and family.

Noodle the zucchini and carrot using a vegetable peeler or spiral slicer. Toss with the bell pepper, green onion, and bean sprouts.

In a bullet type blender, puree all the sauce ingredients until very creamy. Pour over noodles, toss lightly, serve.

All The Cool Kids Are Listening To It

After Scarlet's first use of the english language was the song Hush Hush (I'm not kidding its brutal) I've been stuffing my music library with yummy happy kid songs. This Elizabeth Mitchell album is perfect. Besides, it has a Neil Young cover and the album is called You Are My Little Bird which is awesome.

Here are the paraphrased highlights from the itunes write up:

"Elizabeth Mitchell has been lending her lovely voice to folk-leaning indie rock for years, and in recent years she's been displaying the same intelligence and playful joie de vivre on a handful of recordings for children. You Are My Little Bird is a sweet, simple little gem, as warm and joyous as a clear spring day."

This one is way good too- Johnny Cash Children's album. My kids like, There's a Bear in the Woods, Call of the Wild, and Why is a Fire Engine Red.

Birdies

This chubby chickadee was the highlight of our day. I had two kids geeking out with the binoculars on the porch and it was really cute. We iBird-ed it and we think its a Black-Capped Chickadee??? We aren't sure, maybe the Turners will help us...