Twenty Thirteen

{2013}

Twenty thirteen was a year for us to gain our footing and find rhythms in navigating life with two toddlers.  The (I'm going to say it) struggles of having two small children were very challenging to say the least, but there was also a lot of cute and beauty and humility and growth.  We found ourselves in many ways, and are so happy to have had the year we had together.  We moved into a great little place that we will call home until we find a home to buy, and as we settled in, gaining confidence in our abilities to be flexible and adventurous, we decided that "We do stuff now." After a year or more of feeling "grounded" in the whirlwind of welcoming a second child, what seemed like one reason after another to stay in and forego the stress of getting out with our two lively Boys, we decided to stop making excuses and we went.  And we did stuff.


{WINTER}

What I love about this photo is how finding it brought such a smile,
knowing how this game of cushions off the couch romp would become such a huge
part of our daily life.  I love seeing this capture of one of their very first adventures. 

jasper's first birthday candle

{SPRING}

moving day, may 

This scene.  Every Morning.
Every night, Between us they sleep.
It won't last forever.

a visit from my baby brother Gage

{SUMMER}

One of the greatest joys for me, looking back on this past year, is the progress I've made in my (amateur) photography.  As time goes on and I see the evolution of my attempts and my ability to frame a shot and find the good light and document little moments- I just don't know if anything else has ever felt like such a good fit in expressing my creativity, in Making an Art piece out of my life.  My dad gifted me a DSLR camera mid-year and I've loved working with it.

it was great year for thrifting: journal page from the 1800s. $5, Goodwill

the grandest sunflowers, and the sneakiest tomato snipe

half-birthday boy

walks to thai food and boys in sandals

frozen yogurt at bedtime, while the sun still shines 

Fayetteville Roots Festival- photo by Meredith Mashburn Photography

{FALL}

CHICAGO

photo credit: stranger

LAKE MICHIGAN

***

husband said this was his favorite moment of the year
seeing his boys play his grandma's organ, in Indiana

baby boy sleeping under a quilt his great grandma made out of his grandpa
and great aunts' and uncle's clothes- on the bed his daddy kept when
he stayed summers in his youth

****

peppermint falls at the walton family persimmon seed spit

private air show on the top of a mountain, deep in the ozarks on a chilly fall day

HALLOWEEN

HORSESHOE CANYON RANCH, JASPER, ARKANSAS

Thanksgiving scene

our Big Boy Turned FOUR

and one to grow on...

{WINTER, again}

Real life- the trials of toddlerhood.  it's beautiful in its own rite

winter essentials

my last thrift venture of 2013 ended in my finding old coin and movie ticket stubs in a 30yr+ old pair of slacks

new year, new feathers.

My Goodness was it a lovely year.  We are looking forward to what the coming weeks and months will bring.  There are a lot of changes up ahead in our growing family restaurant business (including my joining the staff) and I look forward to sharing bits and pieces, photos and words with you here on this little Blog.  Thank you all for joining along and we'll see what more we can get into around here. It's an on going catch-phrase with my partner in crime and me: "We do stuff now."  And I'm so glad that it's so.  Happy New Year Friends.

Love to you and Yours.

Favorite Instagrams of the year: {@ozarkmamadeer}

  

gregory alan isokav at cooper chapel

D.I.Y. Organic Raw Almond Milk

Yesterday Morning, while I scurried around the house trying to keep up with my two little ones in the daily wake up haze- groggy, waiting for coffee to brew, changing Jasper's diaper, getting pre-breakfast snacks (my kids are snacky people)- I realized it was almond milk making morning and thought, "well, hey, why don't I just take a few photos for the blog while I whip up a batch."  You know- for added circus-like effect.  I've been meaning to share our process of making Raw Organic Almond Milk for some time, and at long last:  today is the day.

We started making our own almond milk early last year when we began to feel uneasy about the sugar additives in the packaged nut milks we were buying at our co-op.  Using cow's milk is not an option for us, as our children are very sensitive to dairy and we ditched rice milk (our first try at non dairy milk) after noticing it, too, was very sugary.  (Bonus!) Making our own milk costs about HALF as much as buying it in the store which is a great thing because almond milk goes fast in this house: we make 2 quarts every two or three days.  While opening a package of milk is admittedly much easier, I feel good about serving a milk beverage to my kids with these five ingredients that I know are simple and pure and, well, healthy:

1c. of Raw Organic Almonds *soaked in 2c. filtered water over night, drain*
7c. filtered water
3 pitted Dates
1/2 vanilla bean
pinch of sea salt

Tools:
nutmilk filter bag (I ordered mine on amazon)
high power blender (we use a Vitamix blender)
Container (this one is our fave)

It was actually my pal Mandy that I friended in (home) child birthing classes whom guided my first attempts at making almond milk.  She writes a really great food blog called Eating Innately, and I've loved every recipe that I've tried.  Especially this one and this one.  I've tweaked our almond milk to our liking and you can do the same (no salt, less sweet- i.e. few dates, no vanilla etc)

Here's the big secret about making almond milk:  it's super easy.  Three steps:  Soak Almonds, Blend ingredients for a few minutes, Strain.  The biggest hang up is preparation.  If you miss a night of almond soaking you are out of luck.  You can always just soak from morning til afternoon, though.

See:

 SOAK:

BLEND (I didn't take blending photos, because, well, it's not pretty)

 STRAIN:

I like to pour a little at a time, squeeze the milk through the mesh and dump the pulp as I go.  It's a little messy but the clean up is no big deal, and the entire make time is under 10 minutes.

I've used this pulp before in another one of Mandy's (eating innately) recipes, and it's also really yum.

 VIOLA!  You've got almond milk, folks!

 I hope you try this easy little DIY yumminess!  My favorite applications include:  with granola (obvi), in a glass over ice with some cold coffee home brew, a great additive to pancakes, smoothies, and even as a substitute for water in making rice!  My kids also drink it by the glass and love it!

Let me know if you try your hand at milk making.  And pass it along- Facebook it, tweet it, pin it, email it to your colleagues.  The jig is up- almond milk is easy to make and it's here to stay.

Enjoy!!

There Snow Sugar Cookies

Growing up in Southern California, Christmas was never a snowy wintery affair.  White Christmases never happened and now that I think back to singing Jingles Bells and the other snow influenced christmas carols at lunch room assembly, I'm feeling a little silly.  Although, Fog was dense when it settled in the San Joaquin Valley, so really, I guess, White Christmases were a possibility- just not the white in Christmas Carol question.  

It Snowed in the mountains surrounding our farming valley, so there was a snow culture that I heard tell of, kids who received expensive gear and gear related apparel as Christmas gifts and went skiing- or snowboarding rather- with their families over the holiday etc, (boarding of all varieties- skate, snow, wake- were very popular with boys and girls my age in high school and according to the photos of people of that I went to school with back home that I see on social media, the gear related to board sports apparel is still a trendy look)  but that was never a thing we did.  My mom and step-dad drove my sister, three brothers (there would eventually be six brothers, by the way) to the mountains with our two little cousins to find some snow to sled in for an hour or two.  I remember the goofy laughter and concern for my brothers' safety and my face growing red my nose running and the want to get warm superseding the joy of sledding as a preteen.

  White or no, the average temperature around Christmas time in Bakersfield, California is that of a warm day here in the Ozarks.  So, this year felt a lot like my childhood Christmases- weatherwise, I mean.   The sun shone and the high was in the fifties.  But that was about the only connection to my childhood.  There were no cousins or multi-destination cruises around town to stop in and open presents, score a candy cane or two (I preferred the mini ones to the full size), visit with extended family, and eat a piece of pie.  In fact, there was no pie.  Or candy for that matter.  One of these years, I am going to master some baked goods for our dietary needs, and I've attempted in the past, but we skipped the sweets this year.  No one really noticed, although mid-day, I could have used a frosted sugar cookie or two cause this Mrs. Claus was pretty darn tired!  I can't hang with the sleep deprivation like I used to!!!  I was up past mid night arranging for a fun morning. 

{{a few shots from our Christmas morning and the slow day after, tinkering around with our new toys and playing with my new 50mm lens that was a delightful surprise!}}

 

{1-5} Christmas morning tid-bits: cute little floor messes, fun new toys.  The thrifted play register that I was happy to see them enjoy, the black and white kitty that Loukas dreamed up a couple weeks ago and has been carrying around, including in most his little boy doings  {5-15} Christmas Afternoon scenes- playing around with my new lens- I'm very excited to learn more and am happy with how these photos are turning out!  All while wearing my handcrafted leather suspenders, no less!  We ate Antelope Burgers on Brioche for lunch and I enjoyed a fancy beer followed by a long, much needed Christmas Nap.  For Dinner we sipped large bowls of Duck Pho, (the stock was made from a duck we roasted last week) There's something so beautiful about simmering Pho broth.  The spices and vegetables.  A very favorite of ours. {16-33}  Again, playing with my new lens on the Day After Christmas, the husband went to work and we enjoyed a slow day of piddling around the house, clearing away the Clutter of leftover Christmas messes, I tried the tea Jerrmy's Dad Gifted me, and re-read Santa's note to the boys aloud to remind them about begin good to each other and encourage gratitude- which is pretty abstract, still for their four and nearly two years.  I love the shot of Jasper in our bed:  no matter how many toys my kids acquire, their first love is our bed.  

Wishing you the best of Holidays with you are yours, Snow or no.