Monday
B: granola/yogurt bowl
L: tuna sandwich, carrots
D: chicken, steamed veggies
To do: make bagels, make chicken salad w/leftover chicken

Tuesday
B: granola/yogurt bowl
L: chicken salad, apple
D: Jen's out for friend's bday, Ryan's on his own
To do: make quiche crust, soak oats for porridge

Wednesday
B: porridge w/craisins
L: chicken salad, apple
D: quiche, toast

Thursday
B: granola/yogurt bowl
L: leftover quiche
D: Potluck w/Book Group (Ryan's on his own)
To do: make potluck dish (not sure what yet), grocery shop for Thurs-Sun

Friday
B: granola/yogurt bowl
L: leftover quiche
D: Tortilla casserole, refried beans, and latin sauerkraut (w/friends!)

Saturday
B: scramble, toast
L: lunch date w/o the Bean
D: burgers
To do: soak oats for breakfast

Sunday
B: baked oatmeal
L: tuna melts, salad
D: lentil loaf topped with cucumber raita, salad

Conversation with Soren

I spent one afternoon last week with Soren, Elliot, and Penny while Marianne went to use a spa gift. Lovely hair, by the way! It was nice to have some comic relief amidst the chaos. Moms are amazing, period. But I think moms with more than kids than they have arms are especially amazing. In between juggling naps and questions from the boys, I had this funny conversation with Soren that made me laugh.

Me: Do you guys want some milk with your snack?
Soren: Do you get milk from my mom?
Me: No, I get milk from a different farmer in Junction City.
Soren: No, we can't drink it.
Me: Well, I get raw milk from cows just like you guys do. It's just from different cows. I think it's ok for you to drink it.
Soren: What do your cows look like?
Me: I think they're brown and white. What do your cows look like?
Soren: Well ... (complicated description I can't quite remember that included specific shades of brown on specific parts of the cows' bodies)
Me: That sounds like my cows. I think you can probably drink my milk.
Soren: Do you have a picture of your cows?
Me: Hmmm. Yeah. I can get one on the computer. (I found a picture on the farm's website.)
Soren: Those don't look like my cows. Sorry Jen, we can't drink your milk.
Me: Ok Soren. Do you guys want water?
Boys: Yeah.
(I get them water.)
Me: Do you guys want to share a banana?
Soren: Where do you buy your bananas, Jen?
Me: Capellas
Soren: We can't eat your bananas.
Me: (Ah-ha, I'm catching on!) Where do you get your bananas?
Soren: Market of Choice
Me: (Wondering how far logic will take me) Well, I'm pretty sure Market of Choice and Capellas buy bananas from the same banana farm. I think it's ok for you to eat my bananas if you want some.
Soren: Oh! We shop at Cabellas too! But mama only buys bananas from Market of Choice.
Me: (Alas, conviction wins over logic.) Oh, so you can't eat my bananas?
Soren: No.

As one would expect, that Scrivner boy sure knows that food source is important! Way to go Marianne :)

Got Breast Milk?

I'm not a bumper sticker person. I generally think they're a weird way of attempting to share your opinion. No one asked. It's just you (or them) sharing your (or their) opinion without the possibility of conversation, which I think is kinda weird. However, I quite enjoyed this particular bumper sticker. I'm pretty sure I waved and yelled, "I do!" And, it reminded me of something I read lately that I wanted to share because I thought it was so beautifully cool.

From Nina Planck's Real Food:
"In one of nature's many elegant efficiencies, the antibodies in breast milk are targeted to the pathogens in the mother and baby's immediate environment; they are tailor-made for the baby."

Isn't that amazing! Aside from the fact that there are over a hundred ingredients in breast milk (that the formula industry simply cannot duplicate), that the ratio of protein to fat to carbs is perfect (at least in a well-fed mom), and that it creates a profound bond between the mom and baby, the fact that God made us able to supply our babes with the perfect pathogens for our dirty, little homes (or perhaps not-so-dirty in the case of other mother's homes :) ) is, I believe, amazingly wonderful.

Got breast milk?

Pause Button

I want a remote control for life at this moment. I want to pause her as she plays on the floor, clapping together little wooden blocks, rocking back and forth to the music, and making her own sounds as if to sing along. She studies the dots on the bottom of an animal. She puts it in her mouth and makes a face ... I used to like this? it seems to say. She looks at me and smiles, leans for the computer and giggles when I pull it away. She goes back to her rocking and clapping. She is perfect and beautiful, and I look at her knowing that this is a perfect moment together. There will be many moments that are not so perfect, moments that are painful and sad. I wish I could rewind to this moment or fast-forward through those. But I can't. And I know why, but it doesn't make the longing for a pause button any less.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
B: yogurt, granola
L: leftover beet soup
D: roast chicken, squash, salad, bread
To Do: feed sourdough mother, make bagels, dry sprouted spelt

Tuesday
B: yogurt, granola
L: left over beet soup
D: curry chicken salad, chips & guacamole
To Do: make hummus, start stock, soak oats

Wednesday
B: porridge w/craisins
L: leftover chicken salad, chips
D: quiche, bread
To Do: feed sourdough mother, make bread, make granola (& granola bars?)

Thursday
B: leftover quiche
L: sandwich, carrots, hummus
D: Date night out!
To Do: start new sprouts

Friday
B: leftover quiche
L: yogurt, granola, banana
D: homemade pizza, salad
To Do: feed sourdough mother

Saturday
B: scramble, toast
L: soup, salad w/friends
D: burgers

Sunday
B: sourdough blueberry pancakes
L: leftovers (or squash soup)
D: tuna melts, salad
To Do: feed sourdough mother, make bread