Moving

Getting ready to move is a big challenge. But it's most important for me to focus on the material items being just that - material. You can get new things, better things, different things - but most importantly you can always have less things.
We have a lot of stuff and most of the time I like having all our stuff.
Right now when I'm facing downsizing all of our things and deciding what is worth it to sell and what is something we should keep - its definitely a big job!

Ky just turned 7 and I couldn't be more proud of her in the past week. She has helped out tremendously with S and just shown some really impressive maturity. I love her to pieces!
Moving is going to be tough on her, I know that she is going to miss her best friend like crazy and I feel terrible about that. But I also know what it's like to move to a new area and I know that ky has some great and wonderful friend making capabilities. She's an amazing girl.

I'm still chugging away at school work, and really I should either be studying or sleeping right now.
Moving will be a lot of work, but I think this is the happiest I've been in forever. I love my family and everyday they truly make me happy.

How Gluten-Free Muffins Test My Patience

So we are trying some gluten free recipes for Goobs and us too. Don't judge, I didn't make you try them!
At first I was thinking that I would need to buy a bunch of 'other' flour, xantham gum, starches, and stuff to even get started. And then what if it was all horrible and I wasted all that money... Sigh...
I found out about gluten free bisquick! One problem solved - I can make pancakes, waffles, and maybe muffins with that - and I don't have to worry about mixing it myself, bonus!
I've only used it to make pancakes so far and they definitely tasted like rice. No problem, they weren't bad - just different. Definitely not a consistency that I would even consider trying to make into a muffin though. . .
But then - ray of hope - oat flour! So I've made three batches of muffins with oat flour. The first ones were über delicious and we ate them all (except one - saved for the morning) just after they were cool enough to eat. The problem - super crumbly. (Goobs eating one in photo)

The second batch I added a half cup corn meal and took out a half cup oat flour. But I think I maybe could have possibly forgotten the sugar. In short they were dry, definitely compact, and tasted bitter and almost sour. I ate one, every bite was more disappointing. Goobs ate all the cranberries out of four muffins, I chomped down one, the other 7 went directly in the trash untouched. (Still in pan in photo)

The third batch, I for sure remembered the sugar. And I added a bonus egg. They stayed together better. But they also cooked a little too long, so they are a little darker, but not burned. They also taste more like a muffin and less like a granola bar. (Arranged nicely on a plate in photo)

I can't seem to put pictures in this post from my phone. But maybe they will be piled at the end?
I will find a suitable gluten free muffin recipe. After all, I didn't get a new stone muffin pan because it looks nice in the cabinet!!
Xoxo

Family photos

In preparation for moving, we've been working hard at minimizing our things. This means that if I can scan it, photograph it, or pass it on - I am doing just that. There are a few items I've taken a picture of to help me remember a particular t-shirt, or a band concert that my name is listed on. But I've also been putting the scanner to work and spent a few hours this afternoon scanning old family photos.
It has been fun to look through the memories - but it was even more fun to share them via Facebook. Getting all my family talking about particular events, or noticing something *almost* forgotten in the background of a photo makes for good conversations. It also makes me grateful that the bad times are never photographed, or perhaps if they are - its not a picture that someone saves and passes around.
I like remembering the good stuff, and I'm glad that I have so much family to share it with.
Xoxo

2013

It's nice that we are in a new year, and we have a new focus for our family. We are getting healthy - but this isn't just one of those crazy resolutions that we come up with and then fail before the end of January... this is something that we have started and have been working on since last August. I am grateful to D for his dedication and I think that it is something worth our time and the small sacrifices that we've had to make so far. We are definitely happier now that we are on the road to healthier. 

So.... one thing that I learned yesterday is that while an avacado, spinach and apple smoothie sounds delicious, and it tasted good - the fact that the spinach didn't blend up into small pieces meant that no one else was even remotely interested in trying it. Doh! I will dig out the directions for the blender later today and see if I can find out something useful.

We've also been toeing the line of a gluten free diet for Goobs, and it just seems like it's really hard to get everything switched over, cut out all of these gluten-y foods and still enjoy things like muffins and bars. Maybe there is some common ground for the change - I hope so, because I do love me some muffins.

Ky is doing well, she's excelling at reading and loving first grade. We've had some attitude problems and mostly it's all related to screen time. If she doesn't watch tv or play video games, she appreciates her family more, she talks nicely, and she loves greatly. But somewhere we have to find a happy balance - her "games" help her learn, and she certainly can't just avoid screens for her entire life. We're selling Girl Scout cookies, and that is exciting to her ~ but mostly she just has to focus on school.

School is also really kicking my butt right now, I don't know what possessed me to take on another course right now - but I have to get it in gear and study so that I can just knock it out and move on.

I have to find a way to get the next 3 courses done in 3.5 months - I could turn into a study zombie. Which also means that this blog might not see frequent posts for a long time :/ But I really am hoping to get a little something something on here twice a month at least. I figure that if I aim for a reasonable goal - I could very well exceed my own expectations. 

2013 is off to a good start, even though we are still waiting for some other pieces to fall into place and patience isn't my strong suit - I'm glad to see where we are heading!

Halloween!

I apparently did not take as many halloween pictures as I originally imagined...

But a little bit I blame Gooby for sleeping through the entire event! In her defense it was cold, she was snuggly warm in her monkey suit and we drove 20 minutes to get there. Here is the monkey without her hood up... I should get another picture of it soon. 

 Here is Link! The brave elf warrior!

 Ready for anything! But mostly, ready for candy!

 insert sword noise here

 Once we parked at the library, D noticed that the sign had been yarnbombed!

 Link off on the first adventure of the evening to collect the spoils!
We had a great time, even though it was technically a few days later than Halloween, and it was chilly.

Hallo-winter storm

We were blessed with a crazy snow-storm on October 29th... just two days before Halloween - 12+ inches of heavy wet snow. I was mostly at work while it was coming down, but I left at the perfect time because just as I was coming home the town fire department was clearing our road. Within a half hour, it was practically impassable again.
We were without power for 6.5 days, 139 hours.... some seriously long hours. But I probably got more sleep during that week than I have in a while. I also had to work during the power outage, and it was rough going with two little monkeys, no heat, and no real cooking. Thankfully our neighbor (who went to stay at her parents) brought over a camp stove so we could cook. Perhaps we will invest in one soon...

This was our road on Sunday morning... and then the road was "closed" until Wednesday because of a huge tree and power lines down.

 Here is D on the deck cutting up the tree that fell... gallon of milk and saw in hand!
The bulk of the tree is still lying on the ground with some branch parts extending up - the squirrels love it, it's like a highway to them!

Snow means playtime and snow people!

 Daddy and Ky working on something big...

 Snow fort! It lasted longer than the one from last year, but unfortunately melted in a few days

 Goobs taking a break near the pumpkins at our neighbor's steps

 A snow man, his snow house and a snow cat!

 Goob trying to get the giraffe toy out of the snow

 It's a lot of work, especially when you have mitten hands

In the end, the storm gave us some family time and allowed me to super clean out the fridge...

 Here's Uncle A chilling, no seriously it was cold and chilly....

We're glad that we have power back now.

Yogurt!

This is just a little look into the skills of Goobs and the spoon... super cute! Also there is a longer video (so I can't post it here, which is on my flickr)