week 48

Posted in let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

life moments from week 48

photo 88EABED2-4D7F-4A4B-BDC8-14E8900A8FBE-12736-000009D88E4B6DF6_zpse153dc4d.jpg snow angels

photo 0FAAC0A2-A8FC-4CE1-962B-D1B68EACDDED-12736-000009D8929BDC21_zps4880f765.jpg prepping a tasty bean soup

photo 0756197E-8644-408A-AA14-A4784FA8A6DD-12736-000009D89679AB0B_zps1e5638cc.jpg snow cupcakes

visiting shrum mound

you’ll notice a theme to this week. it’s the week snow officially entered our lives for the final season of the year. it’s here and it brings mixed feelings. i honestly love snow and have always loved winter. however, i am not a fan of how modern man interacts with this season.

i see winter as a time of natural introspection. i see it as a time when the outside world is supposed to shut down and things should turn inward. these months are meant for quiet reflection next to a fire, snuggled up with loved ones telling stories or reading books. i wish everyone would just make the decision to stop going out into the flurries and hunker down for winter. but that’s not going to happen in this world anymore. not when local economies are now entwined with business that takes place in areas of the globe that may never see snowfall.

but i’ll do my best this winter to hold the season in the way i see fit for me. this means warm drinks, layered socks, russian novels, and days spent indoors.

i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and good luck with this kick-off to winter, even though solstice is still a few weeks away. i think it’s going to be a long one this year.

26Nov2013

grain-free granola unrecipe

Posted in yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

i’ve been trying to start my days off grain free for the last couple months and i’ve noticed a marked difference in my day. however, i am a granola lover and missed my morning crunch until i got to thinking…what if i just made the granola without the oats?

this gave birth to my absolute favorite breakfast item: grain free granola. it’s delicious.

i’m not really a recipe person, per say, so i thought i would share my non-rigid approach. it’s based on the granola recipe we were working with last winter but without the oats or measurements.

i first gather all my favorite nuts in the bulk section and then bring them home and throw them in a big bowl. i do a four count pour of a healthy oil {usually melted coconut oil} then i add pure ohio maple syrup and that is more of a five or six count pour. sometimes i add honey or brown sugar depending on my mood. then it all gets mixed and spooned into baking dishes. if i haven’t used any salted nuts i will sprinkle salt on the top before it goes in the oven at 250 degrees for 75 minutes.

the mixture above used walnuts, sliced almonds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, spanish peanuts, and ground flax seed. my favorite granola ingredient, coconut, was sadly missing but it will be present in the next batch, i guarantee.

so, now you can make this or not. whatever. but if you do, i hope you enjoy the tastes and smells of this delish, grain-free treat that goes great with yogurt and fruit or as a topper for your favorite icecream!

25Nov2013

weekending 47

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

we’re settled in enough to be able to make biscuits and bacon. that’s good enough for me.

friends, we’re kinda settling into a midwestern winter over here. i’ve been trying to deny it but temps are getting low and we’re getting snow flurries on the regular. d’s already in the christmas spirit and even though i feel too discombobulated to be fully there myself, i’m enjoying the yuletide tunes on the radio and christmas movies making their way into our rotation.

i know these last five weeks of the year are going to really give me a run for my money. kinda literally. i’ll be running all over this town for clients. plus christmas. plus my wonderful part-time job. and other commitments. and it’s all very overwhelming when most of my life is still in boxes and totes.

but for now i can enjoy things like a little biscuit baker, bedroom dance parties, sunday morning movies, 5 year-olds delighting in snowfall, and bacon. always, always bacon.

24Nov2013

gratitude adjustment

Posted in gratitude adjustment by ElaineMarie

sunday is the day e’rybody’s gettin’ spiritual, right? gratitude is an important part of my spiritual path within this world. here’s my weekly list:

5 Things I’m thankful for this week:

{1} Destroyer week!

{2} unpacked boxes and house progress.

{3} new neighbors & friends!

{4} christmas movies in the morning, snuggled with my fam.

{5} bacon. again. and always.

22Nov2013

week 47

Posted in advantageous adventures, let me let me update ya, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

i’m going to break here so i can discuss the difference between everything ▲▲▲above▲▲▲ and everthing ▼▼▼below▼▼▼

these first four pics are from our monday, the day this week i was a good mother. we got out with our besties to look at the beautiful bison at batelle darby creek metro park. it was a really great day of nature centering, trail walking, rock skipping and fish net building.

i must explain that fourth photo a bit. that is darla having more than a moment with the snowshoe hare pelt. i don’t know what it was about the snowshoe hare that made it more special to her than all the other carcasses but she was quite emotional about it. she sang to it. people, she sang to this dead animal fur and told it she wanted it to come back to life. it is life occurrences like this that make me very scared about what the future holds, or very intrigued. a little of both, i guess.

and it’s a good thing i got us out on monday because i feel like i did maybe less than average for the rest of the week. it seems like i just couldn’t get us to things on time and was a day late and a dollar short on everything. the look on darla’s face below is how i felt all week. there’s so much to be done and figured out in this life and i feel lost under it all. it’s nice to see darla has her balance b/c i don’t. the rest of you make it look so easy. you really do!

photo E15F2387-290F-4F98-B3E4-B899218ADCCA-8584-000006588F3A65FB_zpsb2da6cfe.jpg

but i’m trying to just give things time. and be thankful for the good moments that were mixed in even if i was a less than stellar human being this week.

20Nov2013

making her mark

Posted in love and happiness, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

darla was present from the very onset of this project. in her usual way, she dove straight in, wanting to give her contribution, without really listening to how it is she actually could be of help. she took the yardstick over to the wall, traced around it and proudly declared afterwards that she liked her work.

you can see very faintly that i had drawn a triangle around it and had plans on painting it to match the pattern of the rest of the room. but once i got over to that spot on the wall i couldn’t paint over it. the way she had been so proud of herself kept playing in my mind so i found our small paint brushes and set to painting in the outline she had drawn. and i couldn’t love it more. it’s a little piece of her in the middle of something that i had planned to look a certain way. but i know that without her addition it wouldn’t be complete. this could be a metaphor for my life. i try to make plans for my life to look a certain way. but then there is darla, with her own plans, ready to make her own mark on my life and the world. and if i look at it the right way, i can see how she makes everything better in that way.

and there’s the fact that this bit is going to be behind a dresser, but that’s beside the point…

18Nov2013

weekending 46

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

this is going to sound like such bullshit, but i had a really good time moving this weekend.

i can say that b/c i wasn’t the one lifting all our ridiculously heavy furniture.

moving teaches you a few things about yourself. it shows you how you get through a stressful time with the most important people in your life. it shows you how much pointless stuff you own. it shows you how dirty you actually live your everyday life. it also shows you how truly amazing your friends are. i cannot thank our friends enough for hauling our stuff all over this town for a third time. i’m hoping we’ll stay put at this place for a while.

at least that is what this move revealed to me.

my darla girl was such a trooper and i think it’s safe to say she loves the new house. we still have so much work to do to get life back in order, and i feel i’m drowning in all the things i need to get done {speaking of which why am i blogging instead of doing said things?} but i feel really, very happy.

even if i am a little anxious to get life back in order and settled in for a little winter hibernation.

i hope you and yours had a wonderful weekend. good luck with week 47!

17Nov2013

gratitude adjustment

Posted in gratitude adjustment by ElaineMarie

sunday is the day e’rybody’s gettin’ spiritual, right? gratitude is an important part of my spiritual path within this world. here’s my weekly list:

5 Things I’m thankful for this week:

{1} my husband, an expert mover and an excellent father to our wild girl.

{2} our good friends who help haul our crazy heavy furniture all over this town, feed us fried chicken, help us paint, spend time with our girl, and are there to lend an ear for important conversations.

{3} bacon. i think i will always be thankful for bacon.

{4} waking up in our new place, feeling at home after one night, next to my favorite two people in the world.

{5} the continuous, consistent ways i’m reminded that i’m not in control in this life and the fact that i now have a spiritual well to remind me that my only job here is to turn it over and trust in my path.

15Nov2013

week 46

Posted in advantageous adventures, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

i bet you know what i’m going to talk about with week 46. yes, we’re still moving. 4.5 year olds and two adults with multiple jobs and only one shared day off a week make it hard to get a quick move done. plus, we’ve been doing a lot to make the place a bit our own. darla is finding places for her things and had fun testing out her new chalkboard door. i brought home a new little green friend and trying to figure out how to have a plethora of plants in the house without spending too much money. any good house plant suggestions?

i’m looking forward to becoming regulars at all the clintonville spots but some of them might be quite dangerous for us. we visited pattycake bakery this week and treated ourselves to spelt brownies and vegan buckeye bars.

as far as unschooling, darla started a new ballet class this week. other than that her learning has been concentrated on our house stuff. she’s been a helping with painting projects and errands. getting back to days filled with outings is a major motivator to get this move over and done with for me.

we all slept in this morning and I think it was much-needed. Darla was in our bed when we woke up. that hasn’t happened in a while and it reminded me of how much fun mornings used to be during our bedsharing days.

thanks, week 46. you’ve been good to us even if you did kick our butts.

happy weekending!

12Nov2013

snow for breakfast

Posted in yum yum eat good by ElaineMarie

we had our first snow of the year yesterday morning. this resulted in 8 am outdoor play and impassioned discussions on the merits of snow as breakfast. le sigh. it’s kinda hard to argue with a little Russian angel baby so… baby had her breakfast snow!

what do we think folks, do we like this early snow or does it get a big frown all over town?