right now....

i am sitting on my living room floor, wrapped up in my FAVORITE blanket (a quilt my 'little mamaw' made for my grandma, which was then given to my mom--now a mamaw herself-- and now belongs to me), sipping on a cozy cup of coffee filled with a TON of ovaltine, and a splash of milk.

my glasses are still on, my comfy sleeping clothes (that actually double as 'work-out' clothes so no one is the wiser that i haven't gotten dressed yet today and have not truly 'worked out' in months, unless you count dancing around the living room or chasing my trio around our new perfectly spacious and hard wood floored home) still on.

two little ones napping, still in their p.j.'s because we have spent the ENTIRE morning cuddling and giggling and enjoying a rainy thursday.

A is in school of course, but will join the parade when she returns.

Last night we had a spectacular time at one of our town's whimsically eclectic parks, and then splashed in the fountains downtown. this followed by ice cream on a bench by a cobble-stone street.

these things make me happy.

our household has been slightly obsessed with musicals lately.

A2 and i always try and bring a lot of 'classics' into our children's lives, either through the books we read (which none of us can seem to get enough of), or when family movie night ensues.

Our three lovelies have become fantastically enamoured with the likes of;

chitty chitty bang bang,

mary poppins,

annie,

bed knobs and broom sticks,

more that i cannot recall at the moment...

and most recently hello dolly and cats (the broadway musical).

we watched hello dolly [in two parts, mind you, it is really lengthy] 2 weeks ago and every one of us became immediately infatuated with the dancing!

wow. have you seen it? the athleticism and fluidity is beautiful.

uncanny.

and the story line is quite enjoyable. dolly is so pleasantly intriguingly created.

we had to have an encore viewing.

last night, after rollicking about town, we embarked on cats. the first 1/3 of it anyway.

the 'trio' became, again, instantaneously drawn to the music and dance, as did O and i.

however, the concept of who should be which cat, and which costume they each wanted to don, is what became the main topic of conversation.

so much so that A2 and i had to struggle to follow the story line, of which i am still not completely sure of.

i am going to do some research, though A seemed to have it all figured out, and quite correctly, from the start.

before bedtime was upon us, we had nearly perfectly replicated cat-like moves from the stage flitting about our basement play-room.

it was absolutely lovely.

A and 'B are both in ballet of course, and L is anxiously awaiting the start of his career next fall.

happy happy happy.

thank you Lord for these gifts.

-enjoy. (=

it's time.

so perhaps it's time to write again?

perhaps it's time i creatively communicate again?

perhaps it's time i re-join civilization? ('may-hap' that's going a wee bit too far....)

any-who. it definitely is.

it's time. "it's time......for time.." (a quote from the yellow submarine for my A)

you may have noticed a change in 'scenery' around coffee and chocolate milk. you may be visiting for the first time.

whichever you may be, this shift in 'moods' stems from a shift in myself.

possibly not a technically a shift. but a shift i shall call it, nonetheless.

i am right now awaiting the first rising of a batch of cinnamon rolls that i have well-intentionedly promised to more than a few individuals in the a.m. (A, 'B, and L being most prominent on that list).

i say well-intentionedly, because while waiting for A2 to finish his evening 'research' and study time on our trusty laptop, i undoubtedly became placidly sleepy, as usual, and would have most definitely gone right into bed-time mode had i not promised a sweet breakfast in the first place!

don't get me wrong, 7 out of 9 mornings a week, our crew is graced at the breakfast table with pancakes [and these are no ordinary sugar-filled pancakes mind you, these are pancakes packed with whole grain goodness and anything else i can throw into them to make them that much more nutritious--walnuts, strawberries, oats, zucchini, carrots, yogurt, bananas, the possibilities are endless] so there is no lack of sweetness, but the cinnamon rolls were specific and therefore i am in the process of being followed through.

so where have i been?

well, let's start with:

-moving to a different state

-leaving friends and a well-developed 'chosen' family more than a few hours behind

-uprooting our children from said well-developed chosen family and comfort zones

-moving our family [OF FIVE] into my mom and dad's home for FIVE weeks

-moving into a PERFECT home of our own, earlier than planned but on God's time and nothing is better than God's time.

-being met by outstandingly perfect neighbors

-beginning new schools

-beginning new jobs

-going from having a precise yet very relaxed schedule to having no schedule whatsoever to adjusting to a new and entirely different yet finally again very relaxed schedule.

-feeling deep, deep remorse for above mentioned well developed chosen family members and not being prepared for how that would affect me, or my family

-experiencing intense fear upon uprooting our lives,

and then turning that fear over to our Good and gracious God.

-experiencing intense joy and excitement in discovery and newness

-beginning a new aspect of myself as a second shooter for an incredible lifestyle photographer [while still being able to stay at home with my a-MAzing three lovelies]

well, that is SOME of what has been going on!

really? you say.

yes. really.

however, through it all i remain still and ever so, 'slightly-optimistic'.

perhaps a little more aware of who i am,

perhaps a little more settled and grounded in what is at the core of who we are as a family.

and mayhap, a little more sure that right now, every right now, is 'time'.

time for this lovely life.

to happen, to share it, to enjoy it, to love and live in every moment of it.

even if that moment is entirely too insane and out of control and not at all what you expected it to be, it is a moment.

and we can decide that it's time.

no pictures of the cinnamon rolls, but here is a link to the recipe i am using tonight.

enjoy!

(=

a fun giveaway, my spicy thai recipe...and a grand short-story about a table.

i did a little 'blog research' before beginning coffee and chocolate milk.

in doing this i came across a lovely little place called

'lola b's'.

it is the first blog that i have consistently checked back on, on a [semi] regular basis.

of course, i love it b/c she has shockingly similar tastes to mine, and i find a 'comfort' and 'joy' in the peaceful white backgrounds and 'flowy' cursive lettering.

isn't that what we love to see, though? someone who reflects in some way, pieces of ourselves, and allows us to see another facet of life lived beautifully?

any-who.

miss kasey is holding a giveaway and i wanted to share it w/you.

i also would like very much to win the A-mazing anthropologie picnic suite.....

click here to see what some of us are vying for!

[as a side-bar here, in the middle of writing this post my L came down with a fever and therefore the afore mentioned 'giveaway' has been closed for entry. i apologize for this and yet have chosen to keep my 'spiel' at the top of this post in order to allow you to 'take a gander' at this lovely blog and to ogle over just the sort of thing lola b's likes to give away...]

now. for my spicy thai recipe.

this recipe is a combination of two different recipes found in one of my dearest-to-my-heart cookbooks:

the healthy kitchen, recipes for a better body, life, and spirit; by andrew weil, m.d. and rosie daley.

this cookbook is incredible. it goes far beyond setting out recipe after recipe.

it takes you through everything from re-stocking your kitchen to make it more accustomed to 'natural' cuisine, to little blurbs about which wine is best, or how to correctly and best use what is in season, to the differences in preference of ingredients b/w the two authors.

recipe #1 is a peanut dipping sauce from a chicken satay dish (that i have yet to try, b/c i am so in LOVE w/the way these things here all mesh together so well)

i normally make this sauce sometime earlier in the day in a small saucepan and then place the lid on it and store it in the refrigerator to be heated up while recipe #2 is cooking (about 15-20 minutes prior to dinnertime, really, will suffice)

i also make only half of what the original recipe calls for and as always, edited a small amount of ingredients...

here is the halved recipe that i use:

saute 1/2 cup of onions and 1 clove of garlic in about 1 1/2 T sesame oil.

yum.

wait until garlic is golden brown in color (and smells amAzing).

add 1 cup natural chicken stock (it calls for vegetable, but i always use chicken), 1 T soy sauce, a 1/2 T sriracha hot sauce or chili flakes (i have used both and the difference is a non-issue here), a 1/2 T paprika, and 3/4 tsp ground cumin and whisk until blended.

toss in 1/2-1 T ground ginger (or a little more if you are using fresh. or less if you don't have it. i have found, in this recipe anyway, that the trivial amount of ginger or lack there of, is also a non-issue), 1/2 T honey, and 1/4 cup natural peanut butter.

[i ALWAYS use peanut butter and co.'s peanut butter w/honey (the bee's knees). it is irreplaceable as far as pb goes once you have tasted it!]

stir and simmer for about 10 min. until the sauce thickens.

sometimes it takes a little longer. you just don't want to burn it.

remove saute pan from heat and add 1/2 T parsley, 1 1/2 T chopped fresh green onions, and a little less that 1/2 T mint.

voila.

either keep it warm, if you are making right before dinner,

or refrigerate until closer to time.

recipe #2 is actually a recipe for slow-baked tofu with stir-fry, but i use chicken instead and often throw all of the ingredients in the crock-pot for an unbelievably yummy taste equal if not better to the version baked in the oven.

no. i'm going to have to rate the crock-pot version more tasty than the oven version.

okay, cutting the stir-fry part out completely, and changing the 16 oz. of tofu to about....1 1/2 lb. chicken (give or take a little), and editing the basic ingredients JUST a bit, here is what i do for the first 1/2 of this fabulous meal...

whisk together:

1 tsp sesame oil

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 T ground ginger (or more if using fresh...or less...again, it seems to be a moot point)

1 T dijon-style mustard

and 1T ground cumin

next, add chicken.

i have used both breast-meat and thighs-meat, both with the same yummy reviews!

throw chicken (with marinade) into either a crock-pot and let it cook for around 4-6 hours, or into a glass dish in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes (turn) and then another 20 minutes or more.

do you love these lackadaisical instructions? i do, i must say. watch your chicken and you will know when it is done. (=

WHILE THAT IS COOKING, boil about one half-dollar sized amount of either linguine noodles (my preference), or any spaghetti or asian style noodles that you have/decide upon.

drain them.

when all of the individual dishes are completed and ready, place the noodles and chicken in a [pretty] bowl.

and serve the peanut dipping sauce along-side for, with which everyone may cover their noodles and chicken to their discretion.

this will be very spicy.

and very, very, delicious!

[i love our table, an antique belonging first to my grandmother, then my mother, and now me. as the years went by, the top layer has chipped and peeled, and we decided to completely remove it and allow our beautiful children to cover it with their artwork; paintings, crayon drawings, letter-practicing. soon we will sand out the remaining rough patches, give them one last 'hoo-rah' at finishing their pieces, and seal it in with a clear coating.

to even greater sentimentalize the beauty of this treasure.]

with this recipe, for the kiddos, by the way, i actually make a non-spicy version of the peanut dipping sauce.

it is a simple mixture.

whisk in a saucepan on low heat:

a spoonful (or three) of peanut butter. again, i use peanut butter and co.'s pb w/honey.

a T (more or less) of honey

and a pinch or 2 of fresh, chopped green onions.

they LOVE it!

and A likes to throw sugar snap peas onto hers.

A likes to eat sugar snap peas w/anything.

this, i love. (=

and it truly does add a desirable crispness to this dish.

one more thing today.....

we had waffles for dinner a night or 2 ago (breakfast is a favorite dinner menu item in our home!)

and while A, 'B, and L were 'assisting me' in the kitchen; baker's hats, aprons, utensils and all,

A decided that she and 'B should mastermind the perfect 'dip' with which to top their portion.

i allowed them to experiment, being the 'free spirit' that i am. (=

and quite frankly, what they came up with was AMAZING!

and simple as well.

so i want to share.

in a small bowl simply stir together your desired (semi-equally proportioned) amounts of the following:

wild blueberry all natural jam

peanut butter (we used, again, our favorite, though i am sure any kind will always suffice)

and a [non-high fructose corn syrup-containing] syrup

'B decided to omit the pb.

and both girls' 'dips' were fantastic on our waffles!!!!!

the beauty for all of this is that whatever jam you happen to have in stock would more than likely be just as delicious!

[normally, we use fresh blueberries, strawberries, and sometimes honey and cream to adorn our waffles, but we had none on this particular evening. three cheers for the glory of a creative youth!]

that last statement leads me to add this...

LOVE YOUR FAMILY, your husbands and your kiddos, LIKE NEVER BEFORE,

every MOMENT OF YOUR every DAY.

these moments are so precious.

and so irreplaceable.

and so ultimately beautiful.

this sounds desperate,

and urgent.

but really,

it is.

sometimes we just need to be reminded. (=

okay, i am totally going to cuddle w/L (who just woke up from his afternoon nap, still not feeling 100 percent) and start watching season 1 of VOLTRON on netflix!!!!!!!

did you not love this show?

recently L has become a fan of star wars (inexplicable to A2, this has been a looked-forward-to moment in my career as the mother of a sweet, sweet boy. possibly a little inexplicable to myself. but i have my philosophies.),

he has also become an avid light-saber user.

although he refers to it all as 'peter potter', resulting from my love of harry potter i am sure. (=

not that we watch a lot of t.v.

we don't.

especially the kiddos.

we do, though, look forward to the occasional family movie.....and wed. night lost episodes on hulu for O and i!

anyway, i am looking forward to this new introduction of an old favorite!

i have heard the stories (repeatedly) from my lovely mother, recounting my insistence on being referred to as 'commander keith' for a short period of my childhood....

this has been really lengthy.

enjoy! (=

-C.