Silhouettes

In preparation for my sister's arrival last weekend I made these. Our bedroom walls were pretty much empty so we hung (Jason hung and I watched) these over our bed. They were super-easy and I like the way that they turned out.

I copied the idea from the ever-inspiring Nie (this is a link to where she talks about how she makes them).

Wrapping paper on the cheap

The kids colored on some butcher paper for craft time.

And we turned it into wrapping paper for their cousins.

I also like to use old road maps and paper bags from the grocery store.

Any other ideas for repurposed wrapping paper?

Playing with Water

Delia likes blowing bubbles in her milk. She asked for a straw the other night at dinner when she was drinking water, and was disappointed with the lack of bubbles. Jason added a drop of dish detergent to the kids' glasses (and cautioned them against drinking any) and they played with it for an hour!

In Defense of Mothering Simply

Someone attacked my blog and its title this weekend. This person said that there is nothing simple about the way I am mothering with my over-abundance of crafts and fancy recipes. I thought I would take an opportunity to defend myself in case others felt the same way.

The reason I called my blog Mothering Simply is that I want my focus to be on mothering and my love for my children. We try to avoid some worldly distractions and that's another way the simply comes in to play - it doesn't mean that everything I do is simple and uncomplicated - I don't want to be boring! I am not simple, but I want to live a more simple life - does that make sense?

And my plethora of crafts over the previous few weeks had to do with my crazy nesting instincts and trying to be prepared for Christmas before the baby got here.

I hope that others out there aren't judging me as critically, but if they are - maybe they understand me a bit better now. Or you can just think we're crazy, my mom does - she's told me that more than once since she's been here (relating to the fact that Jason makes our own soap and currently we have no shampoo in the house, we use this).

New Beginnings

I have been inspired this week by a book that was given to me by my dear friend, Rebecca. I have been more focused on my children and the desires that I have for them. I want my children to feel how important they are to me and to know that they are loved every day.

When Joshua woke up this morning he asked for crepes for breakfast - I thought to myself "I can do that," so we enjoyed a lovely breakfast together. Then we baked bread with a recipe found in the above mentioned book (see below). It turned out great. Jason took the bread to a meeting he went to on Four Season Gardening in the Seattle area, and he said everyone was asking for the recipe.

We had our morning devotional. We painted. We ate lunch. We played Blokus. We played Memory. We read stories. We had a pizza and movie night. And then the kids rode bikes outside until it was time for bed.

I don't have much scheduled in my days right now, and I am loving it. We mostly stay close to home and fill our days with being together. I want to cherish this time while my children want to stay close to me.

Wonder Bread
(From mitten Strings For God by Katrina Kenison)

Combine in a very large bowl:
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
4 Tablespoons Honey
3 Tablespoons Salt

Add:
8 Cups Warm Water
2 Tablespoons Yeast

Stir and wait 5 minutes, until yeast is dissolved and bubbling.

Stir in:
7 Cups White Flour
7+ Cups Whole Wheat Flour (I used at least 2 more cups of wheat flour because it was too sticky)
2 Cups Rolled Oats (Or any combination of oats, soy flour, rice flour, wheat germ, oats, bran)

It is not necessary to knead the dough, but you can if you want to. Divide dough into two oiled bowls. Cover and let rise until doubled. (About 1 1/2 hours) Punch down and divide it into 6 or 7 greased loaf pans and let rise until doubled. (Again, about 1 1/2 hours.)

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.