maybe domestic, DEFINTELY diva

Aili "helps" with dinner- and sweeps the floor! We train 'em well and early here at Sluys Baby Farm.

Andie Lucie: Victim of daddy's jokes (and daddy's spaghetti sauce, during dinner)

Enough Already!

Today, we went to cheer class (Aili was a bit of a space cadet again...when does this stop?) and then we went to McDonald's Playplace to burn off some energy playing with other kiddos in the tubes, and then we registered for next year's preschool class.
We are getting major cabin fever. The snow is disgusting (sloppy, wet, and it's raining now too) and we can't work on the yards or gardens, Aili can't ride her bike or drive her car, we're pretty much stuck inside for a lot of the day and I'm starting to lose my creativity. Suggestions? I'm all ears.

5 months

...is how old my little itty-bitty rolly-polly delicious bundle of sweetness is. I can't even handle it! She is getting older, and I am loving watching her grow and do new things, but I know I'll be sad when she isn't a "baby" anymore. In celebration of her five-month- birthday, we had baby oatmeal! She has been very interested in our food lately (did I tell you about how she grabbed an olive oil-covered broccoli off my plate?
Well she did. And refused to let go. SO messy. SO cute). So we decided to let her have a go of it. She loved it! Baby oatmeal + breast milk = baby food of the gods, I guess. Here is some of her cuteness to gobble up. Don't you just love a messy little babe with food all over her face? I sure do. And lastly,
we have a photo of me and my firstborn little lady. Can you believe it? She is the baby twin I never had. She is gonna be my best buddy someday, I'm sure of it.

It's beginning to feel a lot like...February

I know it is usually a joke when people say they're going to talk about the weather, but let's chat about the weather, shall we? We made Aili and Jeff made a snowman. I scrambled around gathering the necessities, like buttons, carrots, and such for decorations, and then they made Mr. Frosty. I gave Jeff some water based paints and brushes to play with, and he looked at me like I was crazy. But really, I recommend it. Washable paint + lots of snow= a huuuugee canvas for a creative kid to work on and then when the snow melts, it just goes away! Perfection. My momma tip of the week.

Isn’t he just handsome? She’s pretty cute too! And yes, they did decide to use my cashmere scarf for the snowman. Because you know, we didn’t have enough poly-blend lying around or something (insert cough).And do you remember fall? Not sure what yours was like, but here in Stanwood, we had a flood! Here’s a little thing about me: I love natural “disasters,” or weather-related anomalies, provided no one is hurt. So of course when Stanwood flooded, we had to go and check it out. I was so disappointed that I forgot a memory card for my camera, so unfortunately I just have these two pictures:That's right, there is not supposed to be any water there. Don't you just want to canoe through it? There was a nice little current going!

the seattle girl in me

Friday, I went to work. We were busy. I think it might have been a full moon.
Babies were born, and lots of them too! I stayed late to help out. By the time I left at 11:45am (after starting at 7pm the night before), I was quite tired. The hubby called and wanted me to stop by the store to get root beer in bottles- he was having a sleepover with his little brother and they were going to do manly things and such. I got said root beer, and then got a coffee. Mmmm. Coffee. I heart coffee. By the time I got home, I was practically running over mailboxes, as it had been 20 hours since I had left the house the day before. I nursed the baby, pumped (fell asleep while pumping again), and then finally went to bed at 3pm. I slept for 2 and a half hours and then nursed, had dinner, and took another nap for a couple of hours. I then got up, packed the kids up in the car, and them to Stephanie's for the night, and went back to work for the night. I really I wanted to do THIS:






Instead, I did THIS:
...and then THIS:


I had some more coffee, went back to work, and did my time. Got off at 745Am, went and saw my babies, nursed, and went to bed. I love coffee. It makes everything better.

Crockpot Yummies, Via Lisa

If you are a friend of mine, you might already know Lisa, my bestie. She posted a blog about crockpot meals and I thought I would join in on the fun! Be sure to check out her site for some more yummies- I know I will be trying out some of them!
I love my crockpot. Whether you work night shift or days it is fabulous to have a warm meal all ready to go. Below is my recipe for oatmeal- having a crockpot breakfast is quite a delight to wake up to, and this one smells real scrumptious, too. If you have a copy of our Friends&Family cookbook you already have this recipe, but here it is again. And we also have extra copies of our cookbook, so let me know if you want a copy~





Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

1 Cup Old-Fashioned Oats
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon, or more to taste
2 Cups Water or Apple Juice/Water Combo
1 1/2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Medium Apple or Pear
Pinch of Salt

Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 7-9 hours. This makes a small-ish batch so I usually double it (we're oinkers!) and use one pear and one apple. Enjoy!

Homesteading and the Locavore Movement

We've been pretty busy here this February. First, I went back to work. It's not so bad but I miss my babies and I want to cut back my hours. It's hard for me knowing that Andie Lucie's at home getting a bottle while I am work, trying to keep my eyes open in the wee hours of the night (or morning, depending on how you look at it), pumping away. I do enjoy the little babies at work though, and the paycheck is nice, because we are super-busy doing the landscaping for our house! We knew when we chose this place that it would require a lot of work in the yard since the landscaping was bare. The downside is that it's expensive and it will take awhile to get mature landscaping, the upside is that we get to start from scratch and make it exactly how we want it.
We've been having a lot of fun getting the food garden ready. I have big plans for it; I want it to be beautiful as well as functional. I think we got lucky in the past with our crop success because I know so much more now that I did then about organic gardening. With our Ferndale garden we just threw some good soil and manure in raised beds with cedar and called it good, and we got a pretty good return. For this house we're doing raised beds as well, with room for food crops as well as flowers and shrubs. I've been researching which flowers and plants to get to attract beneficial insects and bees, as well as looking into other methods of organic weed and pest control. If things go well we should have more then we can use do hopefully some of you will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor :-) Since we've moved in I think we've planted about 50 plants or bulbs, not counting the seeds I started in the garage and our "greenhouse bathroom" downstairs, which is currently home to some warm-season crops like tomatoes and peppers. We decided to photo-document all our work, so here are some of our pics:

Why oh why does blogger do this? If you know, leave me a comment. Anyway, to the left are my babies: Arugula, carrots, broccoli, spinach, and radishes live here until it's warm enough to transfer the seedlings into the garden outside.In the garage are the garden boxes Jeff has been working on constructing. We have eight of them- that's enough for a LOT of food! The Right: A close up of the seed starts, of course not rotated correctly. Grr. I hate blogger.
The side yard, where the food garden is going.We're having to dig out what feels like half of this hill in order to get the boxes in and level. The soil's rocky, which is good for drainage, and we're bringing in good topsoil for the beds.
And now, some pictures of my little one! Here is she is at 4 3/4 months getting squeaky-clean. I can't even believe how sweet she is! I just love her so much.