I Dooo Decalre!

 Well actually she already did and it was really fun and beautiful. But last month I got to go down to Napa and pre-wedding celebrate with her. These are the the pictures from her shower. (Elisha is the one on the left. (I like her.)) 

 This is Rebekah, her maid of honor/ little sis. News flash she is now a grown up and super awesome. I have known her since she was an itty bitty two-year-old, and I have always been happy about it, too.

 Other people who like Elisha.

 These mason jars full of pretty floating things are a testament to how awesome Rebekah is.

Handsomest boy and prettiest lady at the party.

Corn on the Cob

 You can tell he's a first timer because he's just licking it.

Also I love my dad's "You're mocking me" face. He just dropped his corn on the ground because he wasn't using the little corn holding things. And then we all laughed. I love my dad.

Fox's 2nd and Tyler's 4th 1st Day of Fall

Airplane

 I love to fly with my kids.

 For real.

      But who wouldn't. Sure they are a ton of work and I have to carry all this extra stuff and I have to continually stop Fox from putting everything into his mouth and they usually end up both crying and crawling all over me at the same time at some point on the flight, but they are so stinkin' cute and everyone is super nice and helpful and says encouraging stuff. But here is a weird thing. People often say to me things like, "whoa, you've got your hands full." or "I don't know how you do it." And they say it like it is literally a miracle that we have made it out of our house. Have you never met a person with two children before?! Or maybe my children are really just that crazy.

Pancakes! (Again)

   Sorry everyone I forgot to put the recipe in my last post. So here you go!

Mark Bittman's Pancakes (sort of)

      1 1/4 cup flour (more  or less depending on how much flax/wheat germ you use. The       total should equal 2 cups)

      1/4 cup whole flax seed

      1/4 cup wheat germ

      1/2 tsp salt

      1 Tbls baking powder

      2 eggs

      1 1/2 to 2 cups almond milk (or any milk of your choice)

      2 Tbls neutral oil

      

      Preheat your griddle over medium heat for a large burner or medium-high for a small burner. Oil or butter griddle if you like to do that sort of thing.

      Combine flax and wheat germ in a magic bullet (or blender or whatever you use to grind flax seed) measure into a measuring cup to see how much you have and then add flour to make 2 cups total. Pour into a large bowl. Add salt and baking powder and whisk dry ingredients together.

      In a small bowl whisk together eggs, milk, and oil. Pour into dry ingredients. Now here is a trick: Pancakes are a quick bread (so are muffins and banana bread). So with quick breads it is important to do just a quick mix. Stir just until the wet and dry are combined. Lumpy is good. Because if you mix for too long something in the flour starts too bind together and gives you dense pancakes. 

       Pour a tablespoon or quarter cup or so of pancake batter onto your griddle and cook until bubbles start to form around the edge of your pancakes and then flip and continue to cook until they are as brown as you like them. Enjoy!

     

Pancakes and Family Worship Time

   
    I love to make pancakes. I also love to eat pancakes, like at least five in one sitting. At least. So I am trying to make them healthier. I am also trying to make them healthier because I am teaching my children, by my actions, that it is perfectly normal and okay to eat, at least, five pancakes in one sitting. 

   
    At first, I did half whole wheat flour, and then I did all whole wheat flour for a while until I went back to all white flour because I felt like I deserved it. And then I felt like I should never eat flour again, but then I remembered that I have no will power at all, so that would be impossible. And then one morning, (when Nick wasn't home, of course. This is not the sort of thing I could just spring on Nick.) I decided to try magic bulletting a 1/4 cup of flax and a 1/4 cup of wheat germ which turned into about 3/4 cup of ground super healthy-for-your-bodyness and substituted it for that amount of flour in my trusty Mark Bittman pancake recipe.
    Fingers crossed, Tyler and I fried them up and Holy Moly, they were delicious! Totally light and fluffy, not dense and tasting like health, as I had imagined. But, here is the kicker: even Nick thought they were amazing. After my test run on the children, I made them the next weekend for the whole fam, and Nick actually really liked them even without chocolate chips!

    I am sort of wondering why everyone doesn't make pancakes like this. I actually thought to myself,"Is this somehow not good for you or maybe even poisonous, because I can't think of another reason why I haven't heard of this before." But I don't think it is poisonous, so you should all try it.

"I'm already in school: Beathany Bear's!" (Duh)

First breakfast of champs

 

 Here she is, in all her new-school-clothes glory. 

 Dada almost couldn't find the head band she picked out on their date, but two phone calls to mom at work later and the day was saved.

Could not be more ready

 

 Second breakfast of champs 
(The proximity of Mighty O donuts to her school could turn out to be a real problem)

 Literally jumping for joy

 When she walked in to her classroom she was all business. She headed straight for the dramatic play area and the princess shoes.

So far, we all love Bethany Bear's Preschool. Everyone we've met is nice. Tyler had a super fun time her first day. She got to be the line leader and lead her class outside, ride tricycles, paint, and read books about school. We are bringing snack tomorrow and I am volunteering in the art room next month. It's like I'm the mother of a preschooler or something.
   Last week when we went to meet her classmates and teacher, a mom was saying that her daughter was turning four in November. I thought to myself, " Woah, she is way older then Tyler." Like three days later, I realized Wait! Tyler is turning four one month after that. (meep!)