The Farmer's Market

One of the great things about being here is going downtown to the Farmer's Market every Saturday. We have to go pick up our milk there, and sometimes we make it a quick trip. But sometimes we spend a couple of hours, and it's always interesting. Took a few pictures this weekend so I thought I'd share our afternoon....

Liza-Hill wanted to wear Cedar in the Ergo. He's almost as big as her!

Cruze Farms--where we buy our raw milk. They serve breakfast and snacks and all sorts of milk products on Farmer's Market day!

Eating their ice cream from Cruze.

Cama-Jane so proud because she jumped over the stream (after about 10 minutes of deliberation--ha!) She is my cautious one for sure!!

These two ran in and out and jumped over every possible spot. Shepley was NOT going to let Breck out do her!

Strategizing about how to jump over a wide spot!

Ah! Such a cutie!

Always ready to pose.

Mmmmm, our raw milk. LOVE IT!!

Seasons of Life

You know how people say it all the time? "It's just the season of life you're in." And they're right. We all have our season of life to be living in and making the most of it. Well, I've been reflecting lately that I've been in this certain "season of life" for 15 years. It's the "Preschool season" I guess. It's the "Toddler season." It's the "I can't get anything done because I've got to have my eye on my little one every waking minute season."

Yes, it goes by lots of names and is known by mothers of toddlers everywhere as an "exhausting season."

I have found myself continuing to dwell here. I've had friends who've hung out with me awhile in it and then moved on. Some of them have even returned once they were past it for awhile.  But here I've stayed. Oh yes, some of my life has had to move to other seasons as well--the "having a tween or teen season" or the "running all over creation for my child's activities season." I've now even entered the "having a 15 year old driver season." But I continue, though, to stay in the "toddler season."

I'm over the whole "toys all over the house" thing. Been there, done that. When my older ones were little, it didn't bother me to have toy boxes in the living room, book baskets all around, art supplies all over the kitchen. I knew it was just "my season" and it was okay. When I was pregnant with Cedar though, that thought seemed to change. I guess maybe 13 years of my house not belonging to me started to get to me. I went through and literally threw away about 98% of baby/toddler toys. So, needless to say, Cedar hasn't had much. Knowing that he's the last, I haven't bought much. So he's learned to play with his brothers and sisters really well!

I was discussing this with a friend the other day at the pool. As my older ones were at one pool and my two younger ones were at another, and I was trying to keep an eye on both. I've learned that lifeguards are my friends, and I could do nothing without them!! I've learned to trust them and trust the fact that my children are in God's hands--even in the water!! Not only was I trying to keep an eye on both, but all my friends were at the big pool, and I was sitting at the baby one.

Welcome to the story of my life. It's one big split. Two sets of friends. One set with big kids. One set with little kids. On the one hand, I sit and talk about schooling or attitudes or hormones. On the other hand, I sit and talk about potty training, crawling into my bed at night or nursing. One thing I've noticed is that moms of big kids seem to forget all the stuff that goes along with being a mom of little kids. It gets kind of lonely sometimes--being in this season for 15 years.

I'm not complaining. I've just had it up in my face now for a few months. I hadn't ever really thought too much about it until recently. Cedar is a hard toddler. He's EVERYWHERE!!! I've made the comment that I think that God is preparing me to be ready to get out of this stage since Jon says we're done. God's making it much easier for me to be done!

Today at Splash Country (at Dollywood) it was very apparent again. There were TONS of people. Jon had the older three. I had the younger two. Trand is still in FL. I could hardly keep up with them in all the people. At one point we switched. I took the older three to do the water slides. Aaaahhhh!!! It was fantastic. Conversations, that while weren't necessarily "adult", made sense. We laughed and giggled and had so much fun together. I'm not saying I don't enjoy my little ones. I do--so much!! I just know I'm ready now to move on.

And just one more experience in this season of toddlerhood-- Tonight as I was giving Cama-Jane and Cedar a bath, I was in my closet for something and I heard, "Cedar pooooooped!!" Of course, Cedar pooped. Just how much poop have I cleaned out of bath water in these last 15 years? I'm pretty much an expert at it actually. It just reminded me again, "This is just my season of life." A season that I have spent so much time in. I've loved [almost] every minute of it. Even cleaning out the poop is not all that bad. Even the lonely times have mostly been erased with the memories of sweet giggles and laughter, hugs and kisses, pure joy at the sight of "Mommy."

No, I wouldn't change a thing about this season. But I think I can finally say I'm ready to move on to a new one. I think I'm ready for the new challenges that lie ahead. But I do have a little while to wait. I've still got about 3 more years here!!

So when my oldest is going off to college and my youngest is entering Kindergarten, I think that's when I can safely say I'm out of the "preschool season" the "toddler season" the "exhausting season." Thank the Lord because I'll be 42, and I'll need the break for sure!

Cooking from my garden

Breck was so excited to get to pick the first veggies of the garden

Tonight was somewhat of a "dream come true" for me. I know it may sound dumb, but I finally got to walk down to my own garden, pick real living food from it and take it to my kitchen to cook for supper!! I can't tell you how long I've wanted to be able to do that!!

Here's the basil that I cut for the pesto

Jon was very impressed with the pesto. I have to say--it was yummy!!

We had pan seared chicken and brown rice noodle with pesto sauce. We also had that big, yummy squash with onions. It was all so much better knowing it came straight from our garden! Can't wait for more produce! The garden is beautiful and growing so well. There are so many little squash, zucchinis, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans. It's very exciting! I have found, though, that I definitely need to plant more basil. I cut my whole plant back today. We need to make a bigger part of the garden for herbs. We only have a few down there right now. We wanted to start small this year to see what we needed and how it would grow. So far, so good. I'm amazed at how little the weeds grow here--compared to Naples!! :) Now I remember why I loved my flower gardens so much when we lived on Lookout Mtn. They weren't full of endless weeding!! I'll leave you with one more picture. Cedar loved the squash as well!!

Heavenly Healthy Waffles

I know "heavenly" and "healthy" are not too often used in the same title for waffles!! But you can be sure it's deserved here. I made these babies last night for our small group, and they were a hit. They are grain-free, dairy-free, and sweetened with only a touch of honey. Cedar and I finished off the last two this morning!! We ate them up with a serving of the raspberries from the bushes in our backyard!! Can't beat that! These waffles would be delicious with homemade whipped cream (made from coconut whipping cream, of course.) But we just used butter and pure maple syrup last night. This morning Cedar and I had them with butter and agave. Any way you have them--they are delish!! Here's my adapted version of this recipe (with a few changes for the better--IMO)

3 cups almond flour
4 eggs, whisked
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbs arrowroot flour
3 Tbs honey
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together eggs and milk. Add almond flour and mix well. Stir in shredded coconut, arrowroot flour and the rest of the ingredients. My mixture was too thick to pour so I spooned it onto the hot waffle iron. But if you want to add more milk, feel free!