she...

...is still cruising at 13 months.

...has become quite a little chatterbox. Most of it is babble, but it's endearing nonetheless.

...loves getting toted around by her big brothers.

...feels that her brother's potty is fascinating.

...finds beauty in a piece of bathroom tissue.

...can be something of a diva at the dinner table. (We're working on it!)

...enjoys crawling around with one of her brothers' discarded socks clutched in her tiny hand.

...frequently waves a greeting to faces she sees in picture frames.

...unrolls toilet paper rolls. (I wonder who was doing it first - Elise, or the kittens?)

...is currently cutting her 2nd tooth.

...recently turned her pancake into a telephone.

"Cheese!"

a reminder (for me, too)

Excuse This House
(Author Unknown)

Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there,
Ours boasts it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges are on the doors
I should apologize, I guess
For toys strew on the floor.

But I sat down with my child
And we played and laughed and read
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
His eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other,
I’d like to cook and clean and scrub,
But first I’ll be a mother.

Double-Chocolate Layer Cake

I've got birthday cake on the brain. And while I shan't show you the poor cut up little monkey from Owen's recent birthday (the photo above is from my birthday last fall), I thought I'd share my go-to recipe when it comes to birthday cakes.

I've tweaked and sampled, and this is the recipe I've come up with. It's as nourishing as I know how to make it, and utterly delicious. We are a chocolate-loving family, and this cake is always a hit!


Double-Chocolate Layer Cake

1 3/4 c. sprouted wheat flour, plus more for dusting
2 c. Sucanat
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. gently melted coconut oil
2 large eggs (preferably pastured)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. freshly brewed hot coffee**

Preheat the oven to 350*. Butter two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper; butter paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out excess.

Using an electric mixer, combine flour, sucanat, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt at low speed. In a medium bowl, whisk buttermilk with oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly beat into dry ingredients until just incorporated, then slowly beat in hot coffee until fully mixed in.

Pour batter into prepared pans. (It will be quite thin - don't worry, it's supposed to be that way.)

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake!

For the frosting, I almost always use Basic Chocolate Frosting - Coconut Cream from Wardeh at GNOWFGLINS. I double the recipe in order to have enough frosting for this particular cake. It spreads great and tastes delicious.

Enjoy!

**I recently tried using Teeccino in place of the coffee, and it was very well-received.

copycat

Benjamin and Kyle came running up to me, flushed with arguing. In one boy's fist was a blue sticky hand.

"It's my sticky hand!"

"No, it's my sticky hand!"

"Mine!"

"No, mine!"

I took a deep breath and turned to my children. "Well, let's see," I said slowly, "I guess what we ought to do is to cut the sticky hand in half. That way, you each can have part of it."

My oldest son immediately grinned at me. "No, he can have it," he said, and turned away.

His younger brother grinned at me as well. "Yeah, cut it in half!"

Now, it was my turn to grin. "It's yours," I said, handing it to my oldest son.

After all, who am I to argue with Solomon?

Owen is 3!

My sweet 3rd son is now three years old. His smile, silliness, and sweetness light up our home. We are so blessed to have Owen in our family!

Here are a couple of photos from Saturday (when we celebrated with friends). Owen requested a Curious George party. Somehow, that seemed very appropriate...




*Note: Call me silly, but I have a thing about sharing photos of other people's kids on my blog. I try to avoid it most of the time. So if there might be a chance of your child being included in a featured photo, and you're wondering why they're not there, it's my attempt to respect your privacy. Just wanted to clarify!

"She cooks healthy."

"She cooks healthy."

I don't know that this statement is generally taken as a compliment. In our society today, "healthy" food is thought of as being low-fat and dry. I can remember, back when I was the low-fat queen, getting quite annoyed when I would hear people make snide remarks about fat-free being taste-free. And of course, you can find techniques to create tasty meals that are low in fat, but high in flavor and moisture. It takes quite a bit of effort at times, but it is possible.

Still, I believe that there is immeasurable merit to getting back to traditional ways of eating...and that includes incorporating fats into the diet.

As you may remember, I have had quite a departure from the way I used to define "healthy food." These days our healthy meals include red meat, vegetables swimming with melted butter (preferably from pastured cows), and chicken with the skin on - white meat and dark. We eat a lot of coconut oil - I use it to fry eggs, cook pancakes, make nut butter, bake, and even make candy. Our family's diet is a far cry from the way it used to be.

So if you hear someone say of me (as they do sometimes), "She cooks healthy," don't jump to any conclusions. It's probably not what you think. I believe it's healthier to be a meat-eater than a vegetarian. I don't own a can of Pam - I grease my pans with the real thing these days (thanks be to God!). And I believe that real butter is better for you than the bread it's spread upon.

That's how we do "healthy" around here!