Friday, March 23, 2012

Spring time reading...



Remember these little puddle jumpers?! They were 2 years 4 months here. Awwww.

We are enjoying our Spring book basket so much, everything bunnies and birds and growth and newness. Wanted to share some of our favorites with you, old and new, in case you are making a trip to the library soon or looking to add a few seasonal books to your collection. If you click on "Our Amazon Bookshop" on the right side of the blog and then click on Spring books, you will find links to all of these. I need to update the other categories also...one day!:)

Puddle Wonderful: Poems to Welcome Spring

The Golden Egg Book

Home for a bunny

The Velveteen Rabbit

Spring by Gerda Muller

Bunny's Noisy Book

Spring Song

I Am a Bunny

Make Way for Ducklings

How a Seed Grows

Pelle's New Suit (beware that this links to a mini edition, super tiny! I got the normal size from the library)

The Little Duck* This series is a favorite for sure.
The Little Lamb
The Little Rabbit

Spring Story (Brambly Hedge) - The illustrations in these books are just gorgeous!

Little Cottontail - A Sam and Amelia favorite! :)

The Story of Wind Children* New to us, for the kid's Easter baskets
The Story of Butterfly Children

The Easter Egg by Jan Brett

I'll try and post the rest of our Easter books soon as well. Happy Spring time reading to you! Jen


Monday, March 19, 2012

Six months old.





Happy six month birthday you sweet little rolling, grabbing, teething, scooting, hard time going to sleeping, brother/sister loving, smiley baby. How we love you!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Favorite moment of today:

Sam's picture of the first Daffodil in our yard this season!

Sam: "You like flowers because they're beautiful, right mama? I like to see bees getting pollen from the flowers to make honey. That's beautiful to me."


Monday, March 12, 2012

Nature study: A Robin.




The kids woke up from a late nap today and we headed out to the front yard to soak up the last bits of sunshine. I grabbed the basket of Spring books I just just switched over from winter, and we settled in on our blanket. Then Sammy noticed a bird on top of our next door neighbor's house. "I think it's a Robin! It's a Robin!" He exclaimed and he was right! I told him to run get his binoculars and (I just couldn't help myself), I ran to get the little nature study on robins that I had just printed out! I grabbed some colored pencils on my way out the door and we all sat and watched him for the longest time! We each sketched him (ahem, sooooo embarrassing, my drawing skills, but the kids were both mad that mine was "better", so at least they don't know-yet:), and talked about his features and then tonight before bed we read in our Burgess bird book the chapter about Robins. Oh my. It was fabulous.
Even though our drawing pages kept blowing away,
even though it got chilly near the end,
even though Jubilee was fussing and needed to go to sleep....
It showed me that our nature studies don't need to be these majorly planned out events, though it was nice to have some guidance materials available when the opportunity arose.
Ahhh, spring is near. God's creation is amazing, down to a simple Robin, and studying it with my children...almost nothing better to me in this world.

Oh, and speaking of children, I watched Anne's this morning and so I had three 4 year olds, a 16 month old and a 6 month old:) They all did great, thankfully, and it was fun to see them all in action at their different stages. Eden was so super sweet to Jubilee. "Baby!Baby! Baby!" :)



All for now,
Jen

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Moon shadow, moon shadow...


Every full moon, Sam and Amelia have a date night with their Mam. Last night Mam went all out! I have been gearing up for doing nature studies with them in Kindergarten, and I wanted to "practice" by doing a little study of the moon. I am getting a lot of my ideas from here. I mentioned this to mom and that the full moon was on Thursday and she went into action! She found ideas on making galaxy play doh, painting a neat textured moon, and then I found a few moon books we had ( Goodnight moon, a non fiction book about planets and moons, and Mooncake) and she sat up a beautiful table for them to have their time together (see the big white moon?:). That Mam, she's pretty amazing! We were a bit disappointed because none of us could actually see the moon and it was almost bed time, but then we got a text from a friend saying it was supposed to be visible shortly so we ran up to Sammy's room to look out his window. Oh. My. Gosh. We saw it rise up from behind the capitol, starting as a shimmer of gold and ending in its full moon glory. It was spectacular and we were all squealing and oohing and ahhing!
As a side note, I had never myself learned the moon phases and so one night I studied around using my Handbook of Nature Study, the website I mentioned, and online quizzes and learned them! So fun to be able to see the moon and say to myself, "Oh, look at that waxing Gibbous moon:)". We also learned that March's full moon is called the Full Worm Moon (among other things). Here is an explanation why, from the online Farmers Almanac:
• Full Worm Moon – March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.






All for now! Jen

Oh, and P.S.
Look at this video from when Amelia was 18 months old and saw the moon. So sweet!!!

First food!

Yesterday Jubilee had her first "meal":) We had some avocado and so I chose that and she had a good ol' time getting it all over and some in her mouth too!
We chose to go the "baby led weaning" route ( I don't know why they call it that, "self feeding" or something would make more sense to me), instead of pureeing and I think it's going to be a good fit for us! Here's some info on it if you are interested in that sort of thing! :)
Anyway, on of those exciting little milestones for sure. Sweet Jubilee, we will be happy to have you at the table with us more often!
All for now!
Jen

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

A few recipes...

This little missy had her first food today! More on that soon:)

Here are some recipes that have been in heavy rotation here at the Hunt house:)

Chunky Crunchy Granola from Simply in Season cookbook (my very favorite)
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Mix together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup raisins, other dried fruit or nuts ( I wait to put raisins in until after I cook the rest).
Pour into the well. Mix thoroughly, making sure all loose flour has been incorporated. Spread into 9x13 in pan and bake in preheated oven at 300F, stirring every 10 minutes, until light brown, 50-60 minutes. Store in airtight container up to a week; also freezes well.


Apple & Oat Breakfast Cake from the online workshop Whole Food Kitchen by Heather Bruggeman

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 1/4 cups all purpose whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup sucanat

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or butter)

2-3 apples, chopped (save 1 to slice across the top if you like)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)

2 teaspoons vanilla


Topping:

1 tablespoon sucanat 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon


Directions:

preheat oven to 325° F lightly grease an 8x8 glass pan

1. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. 2. In a mixer combine until creamy, coconut oil, honey, sucanat, vanilla, and milk. Add

eggs, mix for another 30 seconds or so. 3. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet, mix just until combined with each addition. 4. Next, add the chopped apples and walnuts, mix well. Pour into prepared pan. 5. If you chose to reserve one apple slice and arrange over the top. Sprinkle with a bit of

cinnamon and sucanat. 6. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Cool completely, then serve.


Tasty Rice and Beans from the online workshop Whole Food Kitchen by Heather Bruggeman

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 medium onion, diced fine (or shallots)

1/2 of a green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 - 1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup long-grain brown rice, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained

2 cups water

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 cups cooked pinto beans


Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a medium sized pot. Add cumin and chili and sauté for a few seconds (not too long!). Add onion, green pepper, salt and black pepper, cook until veggies are soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

2. Add rice and stir well to coat. Next,add the water and tomato paste, bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat until all of the water is absorbed (40-50 minutes).

3. Once cooked, add cooked pinto beans and stir gently to combine, with a fork.


Play doh

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola)
Food coloring, as desired

Directions:

1. In a 2-quart sauce pan, whisk together the flour, salt and cream of tarter. Add the water and oil and whisk until smooth. Add desired food coloring. (Keep in mind that the color will get slightly darker after it's heated.)

2. Place pan over low heat and cook and stir until it thickens and forms a ball (about 5 minutes for a single recipe). When it's impossible to stir and looks like a bug sticky lump, it's done! :)

3. Turn out onto the counter or a mat, scraping pan clean with a spatula. Knead the warm dough a couple times, and place in a loosely-covered container to cool. (Or, let the kids play with it right away!) Store in a sealed container or ziplock bag when not in use.

Jen

Monday, March 05, 2012

Lately...

I know this should be at least three separate posts, but even with cutting out watching shows in the evening for lent, I can't seem to find the time! So, here are some snapshots of life this past week-ish.

Oh, these two. They have a special bond for sure. All Sam has to do is walk into the room and she just starts smiling from ear to ear:)

Sunshine! When it shows up, we just drink it in.
Jubilee's first story time at the library:) We just happened to be there for book baby time, so we stayed. It was cute and Sam and Amelia had fun doing all the little songs and shouting out all of the answers as the toddlers crawled or walked away:) The rest of their time was spent devouring more dinosaur books.

The kids learned to play Go Fish. Our first "non-cooperative" game to play, where there is a winner and loser and we aren't just working together. It was a shock to their system! They are already coping better.
We made apple and oat breakfast cake and granola...mmmm. I'll try and post recipes soon.

Sam started coloring during our trip to TX and hasn't stopped! This is a new development and so much fun to see him having so much fun with it and being so diligent to finish his pictures, carefully choose the colors, pay attention to detail, etc.
Meanwhile, Amelia has dubbed herself a "toy maker" and is making toy dinosaurs out of paper, tape and sticks. They are pretty creative and amazing, says her mama:)
We got a set of "ValueTale" books off of ebay. Anne had told me about them b/c she grew up with them and loved them and then while home in TX we saw some at the Hunt house and Joel told me what an impact they had made on him growing up and that he wanted the kids to have them. So, I found a set and we have been enjoying them so much!
Mom took the train to Ogden for a little getaway! She was only gone for two nights, but we really missed her! So glad for her to have a little adventure though:)
Broke out the 6-12 month stash for Jubilee. Love these polka dot hand me downs from cousin Lucy!
I also loved seeing this!! Joel swept, mopped, juiced, etc.with Jubilee happily riding around on his back for about an hour yesterday while getting ready for our house church folks to arrive. Sweetest sight ever.

Jubilee is scooting, rolling, and getting around! Time is just zooming by waaaay too fast.

Red Butte Garden today. Gorgeous, perfect day. 60 degrees and sunshiney!



Came home from the gardens and played outside some more, and then we all napped until almost five!


Today was a special day for our little family. Joel got off at five!!! His schedule is changing and, long story, but it means he will be getting off at 5 everyday instead of 7 (which meant 8). Ahhh, to have him home to eat dinner together as a family, to see the kids before bedtime, what a wonderful and welcomed change for us all!
And with that, I will say goodnight! Jen