Boredom Results in Creativity

Wanna know what happens in our house when someone declares, "I'm bored"? I give them chores. (I know...I'm mean, right?) So this phrase is not spoken very often around here. Even with limited t.v. and even more limited time on the computer/iPad/Wii/other electronics, my kids know that if they can't find something to do, I will find them something to do. And it won't be nearly as fun as whatever they chose.

When our day isn't perfectly planned out and orchestrated, and without electronic entertainment to fall back on, I find that my kids' brains are kicked into high gear. They play dress up, make up games and performances, color and draw, sell lemonade (or toys or paper airplanes) at the end of the driveway, build forts - you name it, they've done it.

Yet, if I were to say, "You guys should play dress up..." I'll hear moans and groans. They need to come up with the ideas on their own. I've learned to keep my mouth shut.

Remember when we were kids?  We'd play outside till the street lights came on and we always seemed to figure out something to do! The media has scared us into believing that the world isn't safe for us to let our kids have those kinds of freedoms anymore, so we lock them up and plop them in front of the t.v. or video games all day. And even if I think it's okay to let my son play in the neighborhood, few other parents will do the same - which ends up taking away from the idea of "safety in numbers" and the danger factor actually increases, in my opinion. 

Don't get me started.

For the month of July, our t.v. is going OFF.  I'll still use the educational games on my iPad as bribery for the kids, especially Jason, but we are going to be virtually media-free.  And I can't wait.

Since Kaylin's last day of Kindergarten, the big kids have become best friends once again. It's beautiful!  Almost too beautiful to break up, sometimes. In fact, homeschool has taken the back seat in the last few weeks because every time I'm ready to get started, they've created some crazy new game or are up to their eyeballs in a fun activity. I'm completely fine with reuniting my family before incorporating Kaylin into our school routine. So we've given ourselves a little short summer break, after all.

My point in all of this? Don't over-schedule your kids. Don't cram your days full of camps and planned play dates and Vacation Bible Schools and sports practices and music lessons. I think our fear is that our kids will be bored all summer if they don't have things to do, but realistically, creativity is born out of boredom. 

Still keep an eye on them, of course. Some bored kids channel their creativity positively with games and activities, others play with matches in the garage. (there are days that I wonder if Jason will be the latter...) So be smart about it and stay involved from a distance. :)

Let your kids get bored every day and see what they come up with! They might surprise you.

Is that knot in my stomach...regret?

This morning, I woke up after a very vivid dream with a knot in the pit of my stomach. My dream was about school. And the knot in my gut felt like regret and self-doubt.

In my dream, I arrived at Kaylin and Ryan's old elementary school to volunteer in the classroom. I went to Kaylin's Kindergarten room ready to help, only to realize that I hadn't arranged with the teacher that I would aide that day. I tried to make myself useful by sweeping, then just hung out in the hall until I found something else to do.  Others passed me in the hall, some were other Kindergarten teachers, some were teachers from Kaylin's old pre-school, and as friendly as I was with them way back when, I smiled, but suddenly felt awkward and out of place.

Then I realized Kaylin wasn't supposed to be in that class anymore and that I certainly wasn't supposed to be volunteering at a school where my children do not attend.

I woke up a little sad that my kids aren't going back to school in the fall.

It got me thinking: Am I regretting the decision we've made to homeschool? What made me sad is that my kids will miss out on the excitement of the first and last day of school, recess and lunch with friends, fun holiday parties, bringing cupcakes to class for their birthdays, among other big-deal-to-students school memories.

Then the realities of our reasons for homeschooling smacked me in the face and I was comforted again. Yet that knot wouldn't go away. Why...?

My still-sleepy mind drifted on to a couple of other reasons that I get knots in my stomach...like when I think about growing up in Kansas City and not giving my kids the same experiences I had or when I think about the fact that we may not add any more children to our family.

It seems all choices that are black and white, with no room for grey, make me feel a little unsettled. Not necessarily that I'm disappointed with the decision that we've made about a subject, just the thoughts of all that we're missing out on by NOT choosing to go the other direction with our decision.

I landed on the fact that the temporary knot I was feeling was not regret or self-doubt. It's just the realization that there are obvious reasons on both sides of the "pro/con" list when it comes to our decision to homeschool. We'll just need to focus on the positives as we move forward with this choice and others like it.

And just like that, I am content once again.

Ryan's 8th Birthday - A Star Wars Sleepover Party

This year, for the first time, we attempted a sleepover party for Ryan's birthday.  I usually expect that half of the invited guests will show up, but (for the second year in a row) all of the kids were able to make it. 

Six boys. All night.

We started out with seven, but one wasn't able to spend the whole night and left after cupcakes. Some observations from our evening together...

- Boys are naturally wild.

- Many boys together are intensely wild.

- Many boys together after eating cupcakes and ice cream create the perfect storm.

- When boys get together to have light saber fights, someone is going to get hurt. In our case, it was within 60 seconds.

- Some boys are in the habit of putting the toilet seat down. Those same boys are not in the habit of flushing.

- When it smells like the heat is on and it's 110 degrees outside, check the fireplace. Because it's probably turned on.

- Attempting to get six excited boys to go to bed is harder than herding cats.
- Attempting to get six excited boys to be quiet in a dark room at bedtime is nearly impossible. (one says something, someone else shushes them, then someone burps and everyone giggles, then someone says, "Seriously, guys, I'm tired!" Then someone else says something just to annoy them...this went on for almost an hour.)

- After reminding six excited boys to not say a SINGLE WORD after 10:00 at night, someone, inevitably, will need to go up to go to the bathroom. Then another will need a drink. Then another will want a different pillow. And another needs a sheet because his blanket is too hot. Then another will decide to move his sleeping bag across the room and trip over someone in the dark. (*sigh*)
- Boys. Talk. Constantly. I thought it was only my boys, but ALL of the boys at this party talked and talked and talked. They talked to each other, they talked to me and if no one would listen a couple even talked to themselves. All the time talking!
- And a man's competitive instincts begin young: these boys were one-upping each other constantly.
- The joy that a sleepover party brings to the birthday boy is worth all of the humorous drama.

I wish I wrote down some of the conversations that I overheard, including hilarious attempts as telling jokes, but here are a couple...

Conversation #1:
(J was complaining about his little brother)
Z: "At least you have a brother. I have three sisters and I'm the only boy."
C: "Your little brother is awesome, J! You should consider yourself blessed." (awwww...but just when I was convinced that he was sticking up for family unity he added, "I have two sisters and they are SO ANNOYING!!!"
K: "My sister's annoying, too."
Another J: "Mine's too young to be annoying, but I'm sure she will be when she's bigger."

Conversation #2:
Z: "My dad has a Kindle."
J: "My dad has a Kindle Fire."
C: "We have the same t.v. as you, Ryan. It's the same size screen and even has the same remote!"
K: "My dad's iPad cost more than your t.v."
(I was waiting to hear "My dad can beat up your dad...")

Conversation #3:
Boy 1: "There once was a guy with a hairy pickle..."
(everyone giggles)
Boy 2: "That's gross!"
Ryan: (I love how naive he is) "I love pickles! I've never reached in the jar and pulled out a hairy one, though."
Boy 3: "I don't like pickles. Ew."
Boy 1: "So back to the joke.  There was a guy with a hairy pickle..."
Boy 2: "I think this joke is going to be inappropriate, we shouldn't talk about this anymore."
Boy 1: "Okay. So there once were these four toddlers..."

I looked high and low for fun Star Wars party ideas. There are TONS of amazing food options out there with fun names that you can type up on cool looking place cards. For the first time ever, I decided not to get into all of the little details that I found. I have a lot going on and I'm pretty sure these 7-9 year old kids wouldn't care.

But I saw these light saber pretzel rods and couldn't NOT make them.  The kids all had fun helping me and they disappeared quickly.

I also figured out how to make no-sew Jedi robes for the party favors and they were a big hit!

I bought 80 inches of brown fabric for each party guest.

I cut a bit off at the corner for the neck (cut a lot less than you think you'll need - you can always cut more, but I cut WAY too much on Jason's and it fell off his shoulders)

the boys tried out their Jedi moves the night before the party

I folded them up with their rope belts and put them in these clearance boxes from Party City.

Mike accidentally ripped one of the boxes, so we cut it up and used the characters for decoration.  Ryan decided Yoda needed to fight himself.

In fact, Ryan had a blast decorating for his own party. He put stickers everywhere and drew pictures to hang up. He cracked me up. 

I also went quick and easy on the cupcakes and used those pre-made candy toppers. Again, just as big of a hit as if I would have gone all out. With less work.

After sugaring the kids up, they got some of their energy out in the pool.

Once in their PJs, the Jedis fought each other until we forced (hahaha) them to go to bed.

In the morning, I made scrambled eggs and apple fritters, then the boys played Lego Star Wars and Mario Brothers on the Wii until their parents picked them up.

According to Ryan, this was the best birthday ever. He couldn't even pick out a favorite moment because "the whole party was his favorite." That's what I like to hear! 

For me, this was extremely relaxed. Even though there were boys everywhere, there wasn't a rushed party agenda or anything that needed to happen in a certain order. At one point, the kids were so entertained that I found myself folding laundry because I had nothing to do. I've never done laundry during a party in my life! Talk about efficiency...I guess that's what happens when it's a drop off party, there are no parents to entertain and the kids just want to be independent!

Grain-free, Gluten-free, Dairy-free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bites

I've been experimenting with finding tasty desserts and treats no our little gluten-free, dairy-free adventure and - I have to admit - it's been tough!

So I'm not ashamed to admit that within 8 minutes of seeing this recipe on Pinterest, I was pulling ingredients out of my pantry. I thanked the pinner of the recipe (my neighbor) by walking down enough little bites to feed her family. Knowing that she posted the recipe about 20 minutes earlier, she is now probably thinking that I'm a psycho/dessert fiend.

Whatever.

Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember my post for Black Bean Brownies.   Don't laugh - they are pretty impressive!  Well these are equally as weird.  And you can't taste the chickpeas/garbanzo beans at all.  Promise!  Give them a try.  Even those of you who aren't gluten-deprived will be pretty impressed.    

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups canned* chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter 
• 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder**
• a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• 1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips

* My can was a 15.5oz can and I used all but a few tablespoons

** If you need grain-free baking powder, you can use 1 part cream of tartar + 1 part baking soda + 2 parts arrowroot.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. 

Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. 

Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. 

With wet hands (or a mini cookie scoop), form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. You can place them close together because they don't flatten or rise much. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls with wet hands. 

Bake for 10 minutes. 

Yields about 14 cookie dough balls. (I formed mine with a 1" scoop and ended up with 26 balls)

Vegetarian Santa Fe Quinoa Salad (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

I tried out this recipe last week and made a few delicious modifications (that also fit into the ingredients I had on hand)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water (or 1 cup vegetable broth and 1/2 cup water for more flavor)
• 1/2 cups gluten free picante sauce, mild or medium
• 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 - 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 3/4 cups home cooked black beans)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn, cooked, drained and cooled
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tomato, diced (or 1 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, halved)
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, finely diced (optional)
• toppings: leftover cooked chicken, guacamole, additional salsa (all optional)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, stir together water, picante sauce, quinoa, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Uncover pan and toss quinoa with a fork. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly.  While still warm, add the remaining ingredients to the quinoa mixture, tossing well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve slightly warm or let cool to room temperature.

(Note: I threw some lettuce and leftover, shredded chicken onto a plate before scooping some of this salad onto the top. It added some greens and extra protein and made for a great lunch!)

Freezing Directions:

To freeze, allow to cool completely, then package in individual lunch serving sizes. To serve:  Thaw and warm through. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Note:  the tomatoes will have a softer texture after freezing. You can also add them after thawing and before freezing.

  

Organizing is like cleaning...only less often

The newest addition to our school room...activity bins. More details to come, once it's completed!

If you've been around my blog for any length of time, you know that my life feels complete when I am organized. I genuinely love organizing. I like things to be clean, too, but the problem is that I don't like to clean. Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil that you have to clean (or pay to have it done) when you like things to BE clean. Curses!

I was reorganizing our school room last week and something occurred to me: You can't just organize something once and leave it alone. Systems need to be put in place to keep a space organized and you need to work the systems. Even if you put things where they belong 100% of the time, every once in a while, it's still good to go through the space to purge, rearrange and make sure your systems are working for you. 

Recently, I found this to be true of our school room.

Now that we've agreed to keep Kaylin home for 1st grade, I felt like I needed to get serious about our school space. In November, I transformed my craft/scrapbook room into a place that was functional for teaching the kids and entertaining Jason during our learning hours. With Mike on board to make this a longer term educational decision, I came to the realization that the scrapbook supplies needed to go...and our school room needed to be strictly for school.

It was during this process that I started thinking about people who feel disorganized. Part of the problem is not having systems in place, but the other problem is likely the misconception that once you organize a space, you never need to organize it again.

Organizing is like cleaning...you can't just do it once and expect it to stay that way forever.

The good news is that you don't need to organize nearly as often as you need to clean your home. To keep a general feeling of cleanliness, we clean our house every other week, yet I only go through and organize high-traffic areas/rooms/closets a couple of times each year, if that.  Make sense?

So if you hate how disorganized you feel in your kitchen or your bedroom closet or your pantry, dedicate a couple of hours this month to tackling that dreaded space. It probably won't take nearly as long as you think and everything associated with that space will take less time once it's organized. Then next month, tackle another disorganized area.

You'll be so glad that you did!

Gluten Free - How We're Doing (and WHY we're doing it)

Don't get too excited...this post is not full of life-changing research or mind-blowing statistics. I'm just going to explain the 2-3 month journey of how I got to this place of even considering taking gluten/flour out of my diet.  And believe me, I've been kicking and stamping my feet the whole way.

Since last fall (I pinpoint it to when we began homeschooling), I've been increasingly more annoyed with my body. I'm not monstrously obese or anything, but I haven't been comfortable in my clothes or even in my own skin for a while. Maybe it's that I'm getting older, maybe it's that I don't eat as well, maybe it's that I don't work out the same...honestly, I can't find a rhyme or reason to the extra 10 lbs that has suddenly made residence on my body. I feel like I've tried to make changes to my lifestyle, but clearly I'm not fully committed or the weight would be gone.

A few months back, my BFF mentioned that she read a book about eating for your blood type and said that the book claims that there is a personality component to her blood type, which is O. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I was so intrigued with the personality aspect that I called my OB/GYN (the last place I had blood work) and had them look up my blood type in my chart.  

Sure enough, my blood type is also O. 

The problem is that, according to the book, I don't eat right for my blood type.  The author recommends lots of produce, meat and fish, little cow's milk, limited eggs and peanuts, limited complex carbs. (*sigh*) 

I wasn't interested in making major life changes at the time, so I tucked the information into my mental rolodex and went on with my life.

Over the next few weeks, seemingly out of no where, I came across tons of people switching to a Gluten Free (GF) lifestyle. (and have learned of several more, since my post last week, who never mentioned to me that they made the switch, too)  I watched from a distance in awe, and continued on with my life.

Until a couple weeks ago. I came across a blog of a girl who had gone off of her GF diet for a few days and taken a picture of her stomach from a side profile. She looked four months pregnant. Then she went back to her diet and took another picture a week later. Her tummy was flat as a pancake. Granted, her stomach was normally flat because she's a runner, but the bloating from adding gluten back into her diet shocked me.

Suddenly, I was paying attention.

Yes, everyone's body reacts differently to different types of foods, but what if her GF claim was true for me? It was worth a shot.

The next day, I took the 26oz box of GF flour from my pantry (that was $7 on sale) and made crepes for my family. They tasted exactly the same. While we ate, I explained this long, drawn out story to Mike and asked if he'd be on board for trying a GF menu for a week. He reluctantly agreed. I decided to let the kids eat up what we have in the house that includes gluten and that Mike and I would be the guinea pigs for this major lifestyle adjustment.

At first, neither of us noticed major changes in our weight or waistline. After a few days, I realized that we were trying to replace our old habits of eating with GF substitutes. I spent $112 at Trader Joe's specifically buying on-the-go items that I could use for Mike's lunches and snacks for me. Anymore, they have GF everything: cookies, crackers, chips...it's just more expensive. I couldn't find GF granola bars, so I made my own and ate the entire double batch in a matter of a few days. What's that about?!?!

So I shifted gears and made the conscious effort to stop replacing flour-filled carbs with the same GF carbs and, instead, replace them with new snacks altogether. 

Old Daily Meal Routine:

Breakfast - eggs and toast/oatmeal/coffee cup sized bowl of Go Lean or Cheerios/occasionally a smoothie

(on weekends I'd usually make waffles, pancakes, crepes, apple fritters or something else very bread-y)

Morning Snack - granola bar

Lunch - a healthy salad almost every day/sandwich in a pinch if I'm out of salad ingredients

Afternoon Snack - something sugary and unhealthy

Dinner - I never realized how easily I was adding bread/tortilla chips/complex carbs to our evening meal

New Daily Meal Routine:

Breakfast - a smoothie with whey protein powder every day as my meal, either eggs or oatmeal as an alternative (no more cereal)

Morning Snack - fruit or almonds

Lunch - salad

Afternoon Snack - popcorn/yogurt/fruit/rice cake with almond butter and jelly

Dinner - chicken or fish with veggies and rice/soup with no bread to accompany it

As far as the rest of the recommendations for my blood type, I'm trying to use less cow's milk and replacing it with Almond Milk or Coconut Milk. I was never a huge milk person anyway, but the limited eggs is killing me. I've added in more fish to our meal plan and replaced peanut butter with almond butter. I'm also considering trying to be dairy free for a while, which would mean giving up cheese and butter, even greek yogurt.

This is certainly a process, to say the least, but I'm hoping for some positive results.  I'll keep you posted!

Black Bean Salad with Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette

I have been dying to try this recipe for Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette for weeks. And since I'm sick of linking back up to my favorite recipes and finding them GONE from cyberspace, I'm reposting it here.

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 tablespoons finely minced red onion
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 1 avocado, chopped

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a more chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Homemade Gluten Free Flour

One of the (many) things that made me believe that a Gluten Free lifestyle was possible for our family was when I stumbled upon King Arthur's Gluten Free flour at my grocery store. However, it was incredibly expensive, so I started looking around online to see if I could make it cheaper myself.

This is the simplest recipe I found and is something I can mix together to have on hand for baking absolutely anything. All of these items are available in the "natural" section of my nearest grocery store and for sure at the health food store I frequent. 

4 cups superfine brown rice flour (homemade recipe here)

2/3 cup tapioca flour

1 1/3 cups potato starch

2 tsp xanthan gum (optional - I found this exact recipe both with and without it and this stuff isn't cheap)

Mix together in a ziplock bag or sealed jar.  Store in the refrigerator up to 6 months.