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 Now that I've taken out Kate's nap (in exchange for an earlier bedtime) there is a small window of time in the middle of the day just for her & I.  Today we read a few stories and then she wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. We made a double batch so we'd have enough to take to Henry's teacher and some of his schoolmates.  Baking, for her, always includes an apron and pulling a chair from the table and pushing it right up to the counter. She's gotten really good at putting in the eggs, butter & flour. I think we both prefer the cookie dough over a baked cookie. She ate gobs of it (I can't blame her- it was delish!) It's really important to me that my kids grow up knowing how to cook. I hope these little moments of baking together help to create a love of being in the kitchen preparing food.

I wish I had more one-on-one time with the kids. The more children you have, the harder that becomes, but I really do cherish these little moments licking spoons and baking cookies.  She spends a lot of her time walking around with a small pad of paper & pencil, like a little waitress, asking questions, "So, um….whats your name again??" and writes it down. "What's your email address??" 

"What's your email address??"

My how they grow. 

Chris has been working on a program called "For the Welfare of All" that will run in-between conference sessions on Sunday, April 3rd. It's running on KSL and so I'm not even sure if we are going to get it here in California or if you have to have KSL in order to view it, but keep your eyes peeled for it. It's a 1-hour program that I hear is really amazing. I'm hoping I get to watch it, too!

Enjoy your weekend!

*****UPDATED*******

If you missed the program  & are interested in seeing it, you can view it on the KSL website here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=296&sid=14959812

Two of them! I was reading online today that it's very normal for hummingbirds to lay 2 eggs (1 or 3 is apparently not a good sign) so we are very hopeful for these little ones! The nest is about the size of a large walnut and the eggs are tiny, about the size of  jellybeans. The nests are usually made from plant down, held together with spider web and covered on outside with lichens or dead leaves. I believe that the hummingbird we have here is an "Anna" based on where we live and her coloring. 

I also read that the incubation period usually lasts for 16 or 17 days and the nestling period is 18-26 days. Since I have no idea how long the eggs have been there, we don't know when we can expect to see them hatch. We check in on them several times a day (they are literally right outside our front door) and think we'll buy a hummingbird feeder to make feeding these new babies a little bit easier for their Mama. We all can't wait to see them!

Happy, happy Spring!

For the last few weeks a hummingbird has been flying around our courtyard. It was only today that we discovered it's tiny little nest right outside our front door.   She never strays far from her nest and so Chris thinks she might be sitting on eggs- wouldn't that be exciting?? We'll keep our eye on her and you all posted!

Today the stars aligned: it was gorgeous & sunny outside and Henry got out of school early. A last minute trip up to Malibu was in order.  The beach is a great place for us right now. All the children are so happy to just be outside in the sun that they keep themselves busy for hours on end.  It's good for me because I get to enjoy the sun, too and a bit of quiet, down-time. I noticed today that there was a lot of tree debris that had washed up on the shore. We had some of the aftermath of the tsunami hit our shores here in Southern California and I wonder if that what all the branches were from.   Henry helped Kate build a make-shift beach chair and they spent a large part of their time in this little ship: And this sandy little fella stayed close to me and dug and dug and dug:  At 16 months old his face is really starting to change and looking a lot like Chris' Dad. He's into everything and is the sole reason I am so exhausted at the end of the day. But what a cutie- he's really mild mannered and absolutely gaga for Henry & Kate. Here was todays little get-up:  We tried (and failed miserably) to build a little tent/fort with our beach blanket but it was just slightly too windy. The kid are anxious to get back to the beach and I am, too. Until next time!

 I promised Kate that the second Charlie went down for his nap that we would make chocolate chip cookies together. And so it started: first we added the butter then the sugar and then the brown sugar…wait the brown sugar. We were out of brown sugar. I'm running through options in my head, leave Charlie sleeping and run to the store ? No, horrible idea. Borrow from the neighbors? No, I still have the curry powder they let me borrow on Sunday. Whoops. Google: DIY Brown Sugar. Fantastic.   Turns out all you need is granulated sugar & molasses. It just so happens that I purchased a jar of molasses on my last trip to the grocery store. All you need is 1 cup of sugar + 1/4 C molasses:  then mix it all up and voila! It was definitely a bit wetter than your store bought brown sugar (and a little more amber in color) which made my cookie dough a little moister than  usual so I threw a handful of flour in and it worked out perfectly. I don't know that this brown sugar method is more cost effective or not – I have a feeling it's not- BUT it actually tasted a lot better than the store bought. Give it a whirl sometime and see what you think!

Between my own four siblings and Chris' there are 9 of us. Out of the 9, we are the only ones who have children (read: Henry, Kate & Charlie get very spoiled). After years of trying my sister, Vanessa, is finally expecting a little peanut in a few weeks. When she was here over Thanksgiving, we hit the fabric district downtown for fabric that would be made into a baby quilt. She picked out all the fabrics and she's given me free reign putting it all together. I haven't decided what to do yet…traditional squares? long strips? ideas? She is only about 3 weeks away from her due date (I will not remind her that I went a week over with all 3 babies) and I need to get this thing started. I love making baby quilts- they come together quickly and when it's done, you feel like you've really made something. I've grown to love hand-sewing the binding and since I've got a few days of TiVo to catch up on, a lazy evening on the couch sewing sounds really relaxing.  I'm finding a lot of good quilting inspiration on pinterest (have you joined? You should!) so that should give me a good starting place. I'd better get going on that.

Happy Thursday!

For years I've had a folder in my Yahoo mail with emails I'd send to myself that had links to all these things that inspired me. They mostly consisted of home idea's but also had lots of recipes and things I want to try 'one day'.

There were links to amazing outdoor and indoor spaces. Links to my one day 'dream studio space'. Spaces that would hold all my fabric & craft supplies so they didn't overflow out of my bedroom closet (I have happily given up half my clothes to make room for it all).

I joined Pinterest 2 or so weeks ago and am officially in LOVE. It's been a great place to keep all the things that make me happy. I've noticed that most the things I've been tagging are things that aren't  in my life right now. From looking at my collection of pins, I realized how much I love outdoor dining spaces. Like really love. I'm pinning a lot of country, wide-open spaces and I currently (if you didn't know) live in a very crowded, traffic-ridden BIG city (Los Angeles). Am I really a country girl at heart? I think part of me would be sad to leave the big city- all the museums, the culture, the restaurants, the availability of everything. But raising 3 small children in a 2 bedroom 1,100 sq ft apartment isn't what I dreamed of either.  And then I start thinking about how many people's lives end up exactly the way they always dreamed? Are there people out there like that? And I start thinking of people who have suffered tragedy and death and loss of loved ones and I know that's not how they dreamed their lives would be. Then my 2 bedroom apartment starts to not sound so bad after all. We do have a lot even though it sometimes feels like everything is falling apart. 

Custom Mini Bus Rolls can be purchased here.

So in the mean time,  I continue to dream of having our own home with a grassy yard and washer & dryer. I know that's not too much to dream for. And I'll continue to find those things that make me happy and pin them here so that one day when we have those things we dreamed of, I'll have lot's of inspiration to draw from. 

And I'll invite you all over (who wants to be the guy with the ponytail?) and we can sit in my outdoor dining space and talk and laugh while the children run around and the sun will set and the lights on the trees will sparkle and the candles will be lit. Sound good? Great, I'll see you then!

In the meantime, you can see what else I am loving here or it's broken up into boards/categories here.

~XOXO

  I have been suffering inner turmoil as to whether or not to post about my recent experience with chickpeas. I talked about it a few posts ago- you know, the Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spices. I'm not a big fan of chickpeas and don't know what prompted me to try this recipe because even if they are slathered with Moroccan spices, they still taste like chickpeas. I didn't love this only because I don't love chickpeas, hence the inner turmoil. HOWEVER, it cannot be denied that these little chickpeas photographed quite nicely so in the end, I decided to share.

Original recipe found here.  Start with a can of chickpeas and rinse them in a colander. Next up, dry them (or let them air dry for 5-10 minutes) Drizzle with olive oil and then the Moroccan spices. Place on a cookie sheet (I have 1/2 sheets – which I love and is also why it looks like the chickpeas take up the entire pan)
Roast in the oven.

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spices

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 T olive oil
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Moroccan Spice Mix
salt to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp. kosher salt)

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. chile powder
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
 a pinch ground cloves

 A few years ago we made some shamrock pin's for Henry & his friends. Now that he's in kindergarten, we thought it would be fun to make some pin's for his class. While I prefer the blanket stitching around the edges, the thought of doing that on 26 pins was enough to make me jump off a cliff- so they were machine stitched. These are 5 & 6 year old who may not even end up wearing them anyway! We made some green chocolate chip cookies last night: We are taking Henry & his friend Jack to a screening tonight of "Hop" so we made a little St. Patrick's Day Shepherds Pie last night which was pretty delish:  The recipe was found here. I took some of the reviewers suggestions & added a frozen peas & carrots instead of just carrots and then also added gravy to the ground turkey. It was good. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be back soon! xo