Quote of the day

 

 

"People would stand in line for days and pay hundreds of dollars if there were a pill that could do everything for a child that reading aloud does. It expands their interest in books, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and attention span." 
 - Jim Trelease

Mini Books: I Adore Old Things

I rarely scrapbook anymore and I can't remember the last time I made a mini book, but I thought it would be fun to share one I made years ago.

These Days: April

 

Longing

 to make these dark chocolate salted caramels

Enjoying
the Moroccan pillows on my couch (Holly, they fill me with joy every day)

Wearing
cutoff shorts from bootlegger , a bright orange tunic from "funk your fashion"

Blog Loving
Lindsay Bently and Lemon and Basil and A Holy Experience

Listening
 to king and country

Feeling
a bit antsy



 

Reading   

"Amity" by Nasreen Pejvack

Planning
on reading something by Ted Decker

 Enjoying
having a lighter duvet on our bed



 

Daydreaming
about lupines and foxgloves blooming in my garden
 

Making

a list of songs I want to learn how to play on my guitar

Eating

squirrely bread toast with sliced tomatoes, salt, pepper and asiago cheese

Learning

about the history of Iran

  

Struggling
to not devour the jar of Adam's peanut butter

Starting
to wax some pieces of furniture that have been languishing in my room half finished for AGES

Thinking
about an article entitled "Doula's Who Do Nothing"



 

Attempting

to work out six days a week

 Watching
 anything that remotely resembles a documentary
 

Wild and Free

 "In its complexity and sensuality, nature invites exploration, direct contact, and experience. But it also inspires a sense of awe, a glimpse of what is still "un-googleable" . . . life's mystery and magnitude." - Kim John Payne
 

"As soon as children find something that interests them they lose their instability and learn to concentrate."

- Maria Montessori

"There is nothing in the way of direct teaching that will ever have so wide an effect as the atmosphere of the home."

-Charlotte Mason

 

 

"Home is the best place for teaching many things, first and most important of which is how to think for one's self."

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

"Kids need time to be bored; that is how creativity is born."

- Melanie June Juneau

 

 

 

"The things a child sees are not just remembered; they form a part of her soul". -  Maria Montessori

 

 

 "Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education."  -David Polis

 

 

 

All quotes found at  #wildandfree.co on Instagram. 

Family Walk: Neck Point

Our Saturday afternoon family walks have become the highlight of our week. Watching the children engage with nature is so satisfying.  Here are few photos from our family walk at Neck Point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Days: March

Enjoying
  planning what to plant in our vegetable garden this year
(peacock beans, heirloom tomatoes and arugula are at the top of my list)

Wearing
powder blue shorts from bootlegger, a sunny yellow shirt ( I refer to as my daffodil top) from ZARA, a necklace I ordered off Etsy and a navy cardigan from a  thrift store

Feeling
knowledgeable enough to start beekeeping
 

Reading
I AM WOMAN: A Native Perspective  on Sociology and Feminism by Lee Maracle, A Case For Christ by Lee Strobel,  For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Expert's Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich, Raising Godly Tomatoes by Elizabeth Krueger (reading this with a large grain of salt).

Planning to read
Parenting Is Your Highest Calling: and Eight Other Myths That Trap Us in Worry and Guilt by Leslie Leyland Fields
 

 Enjoying
the new outdoor lights I purchased at Costco the other day.

 

Daydreaming
about acreage and a HUGE garden

Making
Pillows for my outdoor couches

Eating
cottage cheese and berries

Listening
The Wondrous Cross by Christy Nockels and trying to learn how to play it on my guitar

Learning
How to spend time with my husband in the evening instead of obsessing about everything else I "should be doing".

  

Struggling
 to get to the gym more than twice a week
 

Starting
to plan Levi's 2nd birthday

Thinking
about an article I read in Macleans's Magazine entitled "Did Jesus REALLY Exist".
 

Attempting
to build a booty by working on my Gluteus Maximus muscles
 

Watching
The Expandable's  On HGTV
 

 

Best Muffins EVER!

Blueberry Steel Cut Oat Muffins

 

1 cup Rogers Steel Cut Porridge Oats

1 cup water, boiling

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cups Rogers All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
* I used frozen mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)

Pour boiling water over steel cut porridge oats in a bowl; stir. Let stand 10 minutes or longer if you have time. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with  nonstick spray.

 

In a medium bowl, combine steel cut porridge oats, buttermilk, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract and brown sugar.

 

In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in blueberries to coat. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring until just combined (do not overwork the batter). Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes, until tops spring back lightly when touched. Cool slightly in muffin tin before transferring to racks to cool completely.

 

 

 Nutritional Information per 1 muffin

 204 calories, 6 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 248 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 14 g sugars, 5 g protein.