February 13, 2009

Breakfast:

Banana pancakes

real maple syrup

apples

Bolthouse farms green drink

water

Banana Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together honey, egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

I am a sloppy blogger and I don't keep it up pretty but maybe I should. All things in order like your house? Anyway I am committing to something that will actually be hard. This girl has actually asked me several times about "eating right" of which I have given some pathetic answers or not really fond the time to really answer. I mean who really is an expert at this anyway right?? It's my passion but when confronted with it I feel the inadequacies mounding up, if I tell people something I want it to be perfect! That said saying nothing really doesn't work either so for her birthday (which is today) I am committing to a 2 week journal of what we eat. Wish me luck and don't hate me if there might be a little birthday cake snuck in there. This is also a link to a blog I post on sometimes with recipes. http://eatcooksmart.blogspot.com/ I'll try to do better at that too!

How to cherish a 4 year old:)

Recently I've been thinking about my 4 1/2 year old and if I'm teaching him what he needs to know. I magically came across this when I was looking up the "lists" of stuff he should have in his head, it just centered me again. I didn't write this so if you don't agree so much just take it for what it is. Those kid years are SO precious.

What should a 4 year old know?
I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough. "What should a 4 year old know?" she asked.

Most of the answers left me not only saddened but pretty soundly annoyed. One mom posted a laundry list of all of the things her son knew. Counting to 100, planets, how to write his first and last name, and on and on. Others chimed in with how much more their children already knew, some who were only 3. A few posted URL's to lists of what each age should know. The fewest yet said that each child develops at his own pace and not to worry.

It bothered me greatly to see these mothers responding to a worried mom by adding to her concern, with lists of all the things their children could do that hers couldn't. We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn't be a race.

So here, I offer my list of what a 4 year old should know.

1. She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.
2. He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn't feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.
3. She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.
4. He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he'll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.
5. She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she's wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it's just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that-- way more worthy.

But more important, here's what parents need to know.

1. That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.
2. That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
3. That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children "advantages" that we're giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
4. That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children's toys and they wouldn't be missed, but some things are important-- building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. (Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.) They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too-- to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it's absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.
5. That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That's not okay! Our children don't need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US.
   
   They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they're a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

Love, peace, joy, kindness, eternity

Eternity sign

My husband's last blog post has left my mind swirling and this little song I've been hearing all season just kept coming back, it seems to sum it up so perfectly for me.

(push play to the right if it's not playing) I think in a nutshell it's just kind of black and white all the traditional and pretty stuff and fun stuff is great and fun but it's just that, I just can't take it to serious when I compare it to what it would mean to give someone a true "gift". Just imagine if we all could give each other something like this, the gifts of eternity. Reminds me of a note sent to my brother when he worked and did everything he could to finally take his beautiful wife and baby to the temple. Dear brother, thank you for reuniting our family forever, thank you for sealing the link back up, thank you for what you did today for your posterity and mine. That is a gift I will never forget.

So yes I will have fun getting the beautiful wrapping and fun gifts but above lies my true wish list that I pray for and wish for all year not just at this time, if I was to receive from it, therein would be my try joy. Wishing you love, peace, and everything your heart desires at this time of year.

Why do I like change so much?

Empowerment

Crying, Sweating, Running, Hurting and Accomplishing. "Do or do not, there is no try." Jedi Master Yoda
There are times in our lives when we learn new and better things and become just a little more then we were before. Most of us believe that we can't do most things that are available for us to accomplish in this life. I am most certainly included in that group. However this fall I have encountered a new perspective. I accomplished something that in my mind was impossible, completely and utterly impossible for someone like me to do. I never even thought of trying before. This has opened my eyes to a whole new way of living. What have I missed in life by just throwing by the wayside and saying "someone like me can't do that." Why not? I've proved to my own self that if you want it hard enough you can have it. It's all about the work, you have to step up and say I will do the work it takes to accomplish that or have that. But don't we all know that the only things worth having in life take work and are hard. I'm going to do more of these things, I mean what's life about if not to do your best and improve yourself more every day, it's called progression. My new empowerment is never ending. I'm going to accomplish what I want no matter how bad I think I am at it, how silly it makes me (can't get much sillier then this picture) or how hard. It also has opened my mind just a little bit more to what I can become if I trust God and have faith in what he wants me to be. There are no limits. Take life and do want you want don't let life do what it wants with you. It's your turn now, accomplish the impossible. Why wait.

12 years and never a dull moment! Happy Anniversary.