we made healthy bars

We made a healthy bar recipe over the weekend. These are the "smart cookies" from Honest Pretzels (such an adorable book--we keep coming back to this one). These are a healthy, minimally sweet bar with oats, wheat germ, applesauce and dried fruit and nuts. I made them to put into the boys lunches as their snack. They are good for a healthy treat. I posted the recipe a while back--here--if you'd like to try them (scroll down to the very end of the post. The other cookies in that post are excellent too. We made some over Christmas and loved them.)

I'd love it if you linked me to your favorite granola bar recipe if you have one. My favorite is still this.

weekend crafting

Rainer received this book for Christmas and on Sunday he asked to do a project from it. I admit to feeling a bit grumpy at first, because this kind of project requires a lot of adult help (or at least it does for Rainer), but on the other hand, how can I really argue with the desire to make something? So we followed the (easy) instructions and I think these turned out pretty cute -- and I was no longer grumpy. Rainer made two and Dieter made two. And now they are decorating our nature table.

Afterwards, the boys got out a big tub of art supplies that Dieter received for his birthday and they made lots of things on their own, so a nice balance was struck.

seen on my walk

{hydrant}

{winter branches}

{red berries}

{branches and a pretty house}

I missed most of last week, but now I'm starting back to my {new} walking routine. My #1 resolution this year is to take a 20-minute walk most every day. I'm trying not to think too hard about it. It's best if I just put on my shoes and go out the front door. I'm not a natural exerciser, but once I'm out there I'm just fine. It's hard to deny the pleasantness of a winter walk. The air was especially nice tonight--cool and still. There was a lot of beauty to be seen just in my regular loop around the neighborhood.

a new pouch :: and jury duty

{view of my lap at jury duty}

{new zippered pouch}

I was so happy to get a chance to cut into this beautiful Lotta Jansdotter fabric over the weekend. My goal was small--to make a new zippered pouch for myself. I use these little pouches to carry pens and lip balm, mints, and so forth. It makes me happy to look into my purse and see such cheery fabric staring back at me.

I've made this pattern several times before and love it for its cute design, the way the the zipper is positioned along the front instead of the top, and its juxtaposition of 3 fabrics. Tutorial found here. (I fiddled around with the measurements a bit, fyi).

So, jury duty. To be honest, it was just what I needed right now. I never did get called into a courtroom. I used the time to bliss out with my iPad, read blogs, finish Catching Fire (book 2 of the Hunger Games series, which I am loving), and best of all to make notes and lists and figure stuff out and plan stuff.

In particular, I had a chance to read Heather's post about home routines and to think about how I'd like to adapt her system to my own needs. I feel myself "coming back" a little, feeling a bit more optimistic about getting it all done somehow, and excited about going forward into 2012 and into spring. I guess I really needed a day to sit in one place and think a lot!

{the back of the pouch}

{pouch front}

hello monday!

Hello Monday!
Hello jury duty and spending the day reading and hoping not to get called (my i-pad is loaded with books).
Hello end of semester one, minimum days this week, and being halfway through the school year already. (Before you know it, it will be summer!)


Hello little boys getting super crafty this weekend.
Hello little glued projects and "gifts" all around the house.


Hello brothers being super silly and putting on "shows" and dances.
Hello home-made costumes of stuffed animals and lots of playsilks.


Hello crisp sunny days and cold wintery nights.
Hello new bike (a gift for Dieter for his birthday).
Hello riding a two-wheeler.
Hello hand-me-down bike with training wheels for Rainer.


Hello catching up with correspondence.
Hello trying to get rested and work up some energy.
I'm tired but ready for the week and feeling optimistic.

How about you?

I'm linking up with Lisa today for Hello Monday. What are you saying hello to today?

some scenes from the weekend

{just a bit of christmas decor left hanging in the studio}

{cinnamon rolls for breakfast saturday morning}

{cutting into some delicious fabric}

{had to try this after lisa leonard posted it on her blog}

{sunday crafting}

{nature table freshen up}

{lunch at sharky's}

How was your weekend? I've been exhausted lately, so I tried to keep it pretty low-key. I did do a little cleaning, got the laundry done early (meaning it's not still lying clumped in a basket Sunday night as it usually is!), did a bit of crafting with the boys, and had a few meals out. I even had a chance to do a bit of sewing (which always makes me happy). How about you?

more january birthdays!

We celebrated Ken and Ben's birthdays tonight. Ben's birthday is later in the month, but he is going back to college tomorrow, so we wanted to celebrate him early.

It was actually quite fun assembling a combined party for the two of them. It gave me a chance to contemplate them as a father and son and to think about how alike they really are. They decided upon a meal (Ben's favorite)--sausage linguine with salad and garlic bread and a chocolate Kahlua cake for dessert. Of course there were homemade cookies as well, as per our tradition (or at least it is our tradition on the years I can get around to it). And now I am sending Ben back to school with a big tupperware of individually wrapped cake slices and some decorated cookies as well.

Happy Birthday Ken and Ben! You guys are awesome!

dreamy/practical

{stopping by Trader Joe's--a typical Friday}

What are you up to this weekend? I am super-ready for a break. It was a typical Friday the 13th at my work--lots of commotion and busyness with warm Santa Ana winds stirring things up. So happy to have made it to the weekend at last.


Dreamy
:: try making crepes with the boys. I'm inspired by the instructions in my "new" issue of Everyday Food. I just bought the January 2011 issue for my iPad and it comes with a little video tutorial on how to do the crepes. It doesn't look too hard and I'd love to try it. Hopefully the boys will get a kick out of it.
:: make a festive combined birthday dinner for Ken and Ben. Ken's birthday is this weekend. Ben's is at the end of the month, but he'll be back college by then, so we're celebrating him now. There will be sausage linguine, cookies in the shape of "19", and a huge chocolate cake.
:: make granola bars and peanut butter power balls with the boys--to have on hand for this week's lunches.
:: I'd love to cut into my bit of Lotta Jansdotter fabric and make myself a zippered pouch. We'll see if the opportunity arises.
:: take a trip to Santa Barbara for the Natural History Museum--Dieter and Rainer love it, and we haven't been in awhile

Practical
:: all the usual suspects--laundry, cleaning, cooking (at least the weekly shopping is mostly done. I make a stop at Trader Joe's on Fridays on my way home from work, then pick up a few more things at our local market over the weekend--whatever I couldn't find at TJ's.)
:: make a trip to the Post Office
:: clean the bathrooms using this technique (I can use whatever inspiration I can find).

I love a 3 day weekend. Enjoy your extra day!

resolution: more beach trips

{playing on the beach last Sunday}

One of my top resolutions this year is to go to the beach more often. Why? Because the beach is generally awesome and is soothing to the soul, because I need more fresh air, because it is close and we are lucky to have it, and because it is a good way for the boys and I to spend time together on the weekends.

I'm so inspired by Lisa Leonard, who seems to stop by the beach spontaneously either alone or with her boys quite often. She doesn't seem bothered by the mess or inconvenience--she seems to make it happen in the natural course of her week or month and sometimes stays for just a short time--it doesn't necessarily have to be a big deal. I'm enchanted by this thought and I want to make it happen for our family.

In reality, I'm bothered by the cold, I'm not a big fan of sand in our shoes and clothes (especially after the fact), and I tend to make the inconvenience of packing and unpacking a beach bag more of a hassle then it needs to be. What I'm wanting to do this year is figure out work-arounds to make it easier to visit the beach and also to adjust my attitude so I emphasize the positive more than the parts I don't like. I want to figure out my beach bag, shoes that I enjoy wearing on the beach, something to wear that keeps me warm enough but is reasonably light in weight, how to unpack easily and not make too big a deal about it. And I want to figure out some places to easily stop for the beach (mostly we just visit my parents and walk down to the beach from their house, because they live so close, but I want to discover and explore some other beaches too).



Hopefully I'll be updating throughout the year as I work on my goal!



*By the way, I don't know Lisa (except from reading her blog). I'm just so inspired by her positive attitude and approach to life. She gives me a lot to think about!

new year's resolutions, 2012

{an evening walk--in keeping with my #1 resolution}

2012 is feeling decidedly like a "resolution" year for me. I'm ready and excited. I thought I'd share some of what I've jotted down:

:: walk for 20 minutes every day (except Thursdays)
:: stick to a bedtime routine
:: make stuff--get back into sewing
:: read more books
:: maintain my weight
:: go to the beach more
:: keep blogging
:: spending freeze for the first 3 months (for myself)
:: get back into some Flylady routines or some sort of house cleaning routine that works for me
:: keep current with my calendar/planner/journal
:: stay organized with household things like menu planning and grocery list making
:: book a spring break vacation (done! happily I made reservations at beautiful Costanoa for spring break--so excited!)
:: stay in touch with friends
:: figure out for real how to manage paper clutter. For real.
:: try to reduce our house clutter overall.
:: reduce our food waste. Eat simply and eat up what we have.
:: stop spending too much time online at night, after the children have gone to bed.

I've been doing great on the walking resolution so far, which is huge for me. Really, if I just do that one thing I'll be far ahead.

How about you? What are you contemplating this year??

more about green juice

Quite a few of you were asking about how we do green juice, so I thought I'd give it its own post.

The point of making green juice (rather than making a green smoothie), is that the juice is less sweet and more veggie-centric. We love green smoothies, but it was getting to the point where all that fruit, which green smoothies are loaded with, seemed like a lot of sugar, when what what I was really wanting was to get more greens into my diet. That was the point where I started craving a juicer (more on the juicer below).

Juicing is really "anything goes", but we do stick to more or less a loose formula. We also don't want it to be all vegetables because I want the children to drink it too--so we add some apples to sweeten it.

Green Juice

--a good handful of kale leaves
--a head of romaine lettuce or a "heart of romaine" or two (I often buy the organic hearts of romaine at Trader Joe's and they fit perfectly in the juicer)
--a cucumber is nice to add because they are really juicy and add to the total volume
--an apple or two, depending on the size--to add some sweetness to the juice
--a lime or half a lemon, peeled

Feed everything into the juicer. I usually go in the order listed above. You might find the juicer doesn't extract a whole lot from the kale. Don't panic--just go forward. To get maximum extraction from green leaves you have to have a special juicer, which most of us don't have. I still believe I'm getting a lot of vitamins from the kale even if the juice doesn't seem that plentiful.

About buying a juicer: I agonized for months about this--I wasn't sure if I should buy a cheap "starter" juicer or go for something a bit more high-end, hoping my results would be better. In the end, my mom found me a good Breville juicer at the Williams-Sonoma outlet, for a really good price and she got it. Hooray! I love the Breville and would recommend looking around for a good price on one.

hello monday! {linking up with lisa}

Hello Monday!
Hello first full work week of the new year.
Hello looking forward to a day off next Monday!
Hello dashing off on my commute in the dark of morning, with cup of coffee in hand.


Hello beach trips and farmer's market trips.
Hello reading on the couch with the boys.
Hello playing with the boys and making block towers and cleaning the gnome house.
Hello giving in and letting them play on the computer too.


Hello green juice--so hydrating and yummy.
Hello wishing I could make you more often.
Hello eating healthy but also stealing cookies from the freezer.


Hello Monday!
I'm not quite ready for you, but oh well! I think it's going to be a great week anyway.
What are you saying hello to today??

I'm linking up with Lisa for Hello Monday. I love Lisa's blog, her sweet family, the way she keeps it so real and so "her", and her mad photography skills. What bloggers are you loving right now??

some scenes from the weekend

{sunday afternoon beach trip}

{sunday morning playing downtown/farmer's market}

{playing}

{making roasted veggies}

I did a lot of things from my "dreamy/practical" list. Ken and I had a fun Saturday evening going to see "New Year's Eve" (even though it was kind of awful) and having dinner at Chipotle, my fave. We also tore through 4 episodes (2 on Friday and 2 on Saturday) of Grey's Anatomy. We're on season 7 I think.

I made a big green juice on Saturday and the boys shared with me. I want a big green juice like that every weekend. I'm glad the boys drink it too.

We have gazillions of Christmas cookies left over in the freezer, and enjoyed eating some of those.

I didn't get any sewing or cutting done (not even close!) but I did get in some walks, so that was good.

I need to seriously get back into some Flylady routines. The house needs some attention.

The boys had a great time playing on the beach until they got into a bitter argument over a sand dollar. How I wish they could get along better. I was really lucky with Jacob and Faith, who rarely fought.

I bit off way more than I could chew Sunday afternoon, and ended up grumpy. I had in mind that I would do a lot of cooking ahead for the week. I roasted two pans of vegetables, made fruit and nut bars, cooked a big batch of white beans, assembled a lasagna for Monday night, plus made a nice chicken dish for Sunday night. It was too much! The boys ended up spending way too much time on pbskids.org and I felt frazzled. A couple things would have been ok, but not five things!

We are more or less set for Monday now. How was your weekend?

a fabric bucket for carrie

I can show this to you now because Carrie received her package yesterday. I was a bit behind in my Christmas sewing this year (this is the only gift I sewed, as a matter of fact), but I did manage to complete this at the first of the year, which I consider a success.

When I was visiting Carrie last fall, I realized that I had never made her a fabric bucket! Nor a zippered pouch! Now I have partially corrected that. It was fun to package this up with some jam and tumbled rocks and such and send it off to her.

The bucket pattern is from Maya Made. It's a fun pattern that always sews up nicely. Hopefully starting off the new year with a sewing project bodes well for more sewing in 2012. I have in mind simple things like bags, table runners, patchwork quilts, and zip pouches. What are your sewing plans this year??

(By the way, the outer fabric is from Ikea. The lining is from JoAnn.)

(Also by the way, when I clicked over to Maya's shop to find the link, I noticed she has some new patterns--for nesting fabric buckets and a cotton knit skirt. More sewing inspiration!)