P.O.P. club

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of our first trip to our farmer's market this year. Ava signed up for the kids club which gets her $5 a week in tokens to buy fruits & veggies, a bag, and a pedometer to log her steps. Seriously, the cuteness was almost unbearable. She was so proud to have her little bag of tokens.

Her first purchase was some rhubarb and she got a bargain at 1 pound for 2 tokens!

I think I took video at each vendor because watching her pick her produce, find her purse, and make the purchase while physically beaming was so cute. I was one proud mama of my little shopper.

She then chose some carrots and some lettuce to plant in the garden.

She even got to make a "greenhouse" out of an egg carton, and plant some beans.

I can't wait to go back each week, especially when the fruit comes in to see what else she chooses. Ian, on the other hand, was not pleased that all of his toddler efforts to destroy vendor displays were foiled.

Luckily for us, toddlers are easily distracted by pretty pink displays of fruity goodness.

My little girl is getting so big(I would be tearing up if she wasn't currently sneaking out of her room and faking a cough, so I'll make her some tea at 10:30 at night :)) and I love to watch her grow in her independence and her confidence.

Award season

I'm thinking of starting a post highlighting my achievements in motherhood each week. My shining moment this week came when I made a conscious decision to not clean the house anymore. Frankly, how many times can one person pick up the daily clothes that get left out on the couch? Or wipe up noodles off the floor? Or pick up the thousands of toys that make their way into the living room? Whatever that number is I had reached my limit. So I just let it go. People do that right? It was fine until there was no place to make dinner or eat it for that matter. So I made the obvious choice to make pancakes and eat in the yard. That would have been the low point if Ian hadn't decided to use some garbage as a toy and drink from a sippy cup that could have been anywhere from 2-5 days old.

Oh, you thought I was joking?

Don't give me that look, just because you have a dirty diaper, aren't wearing pants, and are drinking curdled milk (I think, or maybe fermented apple juice, either way it's organic.) And using recycling as toys is just good parenting. Look, it's a drum and he's practicing his sight words!

It's all about putting intentional quality family time on the calendar.

Garden helpers

I'll start paying her as soon as she thinks she's doing work

It looks like slugs aren't the only predators getting into my garden this summer. Do you think the can of beer buried into the dirt will keep him away?

I'm not exactly sure why he was blowing on all the flowers but I took 45 pictures of him because it was adorable

She makes one chive flower necklace and suddenly she's a diva

Small Groupers

After spending Tuesday nights for the (mostly) past three years with this lovely group of people I thought they deserved at least one post in my little space here. I know some churches put a big priority on assembling similar groups of people to small group together, and sometimes that can be a great thing. Personally, I have loved the diversity. Married, single, young, old-er, shy, outgoing, wealthy and not so much, kids or no kids, this is what church is. We are united by one thing, while we were still sinners, Jesus saved each one of us and gave us new life. I am privileged to share in the struggles and rejoice in the triumphs of this group.

May birthday excess

I love May for so many reasons, some of which include the weather finally turning a much needed warm corner, the flowers, the anticipation of summer vacation only weeks away, farmer's markets, Mother's Day, and of course our birthdays. It always feels a little greedy but definitely soul satisfying to be celebrated and to celebrate each other. This year we did something a little different and took a day to each do something the other loves and share it. My mom was kind enough to take the AM shift and so we left our children in her faithful hands.

We started with a brunch cooking class which met at the farmer's market. It was so fun to meet with the chef and hear about how to pick the best fruits and vegetables. Then we were each assigned a task (our was mushrooms) and were to meet back at the kitchen in an hour. Although I could have stayed at the market all day, when we returned we were greeted with a beautiful bowl of berries in creme anglaise sauce and sparkling wine. Oh, what a way to start. The class was fun, all the more so because Ben was there making me and everyone laugh. The food was amazing and I definitely learned some new recipes and techniques.

After the class, and with very full tummies, we returned home long enough to welcome our PM sitter, the amazing Colleen. I thought for sure the kids would throw a fit at our abandonment, but they happily embraced this new Mom-and-Dad-are-now-jetsetters lifestyle and waved us goodbye. We had two free rounds of birthday golf at a beautiful (not that I have anything to compare it to) course up the hill from our house. I have to admit that driving the cart was more fun than hitting the ball but I was not that bad. Especially for this only being my second time playing golf ever. I'm not planning on investing in pink golf shoes but I could definitely do this once a year. And check out the curtains on the sides of the cart. Those definitely came in handy on the empty 17th hole. :) Happy birthday to me and my love.

Enjoying the beautiful day before the family dinner

My handsome boy

Admiring the colorful veggies

Yes we did eat a plate of chilaquiles at the market before a ten course cooking class

Savoring the moment

What are we doing again? Free childcare and a bar of good chocolate in my purse, apparently I'm very easy to please.

Sweet mini mouthfuls of pure joy and deliciousness

Last week there was a fundraiser at our church to benefit IJM and all the amazing work they're doing in Portland to stop human and child trafficking (of which apparently we are the US center, yet another fun claim to fame.) Anyway, some local artists and artists from different Portland churches donated some of their work for the event and it was auctioned off. I was asked by one of the coordinators if I could contribute an artsy, adult dessert for the event and I was thrilled. Especially since as a generally broke stay at home mom, I am not able to contribute financially to these amazing causes. It was nice to feel like I could do something. God even kept me from a complete emotional breakdown as the first batch of cheesecakes I made refused to come out of the pan, and had a ganache on the top that would have broken your teeth if you had tried to eat it. Next time I am definitely going to stick with a recipe. But all in all, everything turned out wonderfully and it was a nice change to tap into my creative side. As opposed to the regular me who forces my family to eat chicken and raison casserole every night.

The lowdown on the Kahlua cheesecake bites:

Oreo crust baked 5-10 minutes

Plain cream cheese filling (Ina's recipe)

Kahlua spiked whipped cream

Kahlua/chocolate drizzle

Chocolate covered espresso bean

Mini lemon meringue tarts:

Shortbread crust

Lemon curd

Meringue topping

Lemon zest

I could not have parted with my babies if it were not for such a good cause.

First Cavity :(

Poor Ava had her first cavity filled this week. The worst part for me was knowing that she would never feel the same way about going to the dentist. Her love of going to the dentist is on par with her excitement for the Easter bunny coming over with a basket of candy...which probably explains why she has her first cavity. She really wanted to know what to expect and pushed me for details all morning. Is it going to hurt mommy? What is he going to do exactly? I tried to keep it vague and said a lot of, "he's just going to take out the little candy bugs that are eating your tooth." Oh, let me count the ways I'm traumatizing my child.

I sat in the waiting room with Ian and listened as Ava screamed her way through the procedure. He is the world's most patient dentist and deserves some kind of metal for dealing with my first born. She was so mad that her mouth was numb and kept telling me that her lip was floppy. I was trying so hard not to laugh. Here's the short version of our trip:

Yay the dentist!

Wait a minute, what is that?

Aaaahhhh! I hate you!

My big girl has now past her first painful mouth milestone and lets hope all the flossing (we just started) pays off. Otherwise, this dentist might be referring us to someone else. And frankly, I wouldn't blame him.