I am so behind.

Last week I decided to spend the end of our school vacation in Massachusetts helping my brother and his wife paint rooms in the house they are getting ready to move into. The plan was to stay one night. They currently live in Watertown. ‘Nuff said? (I would rather have been hanging out with them than worrying about them from Maine… but it was an extra long stay)

So my kids have not yet done their planning/shopping/cooking project. I spent all day yesterday catching up on laundry myself while they caught up on schoolwork. We started back up with our homeschooling/house jobs yesterday, with plenty of moans and groans. Yup. Totally need to be reading this book!

Now for some thoughts on chapters 4-6:

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Here is some “real life” of how this experiment/book club is working in our home. I was just prepping to make a sausage-egg scramble, when my 8 yr old runs out to the kitchen and says “Can *I* make it?!?!? I made it last time and everyone said it was soooo good!”

I reply: “what part of it do you want to? Do you want to do all of it?”

M: “umm. Yes. If you think I can. Maybe with just a teeny bit of help from you.”

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Ok, this book has got my mind going in 20 directions at 100 mph! Even though I began the book feeling pretty good about what my kids have already learned to do around the house, the complaining and the whining had recently begun to drive me crazy. And Cleaning House has been a great way to evaluate how the teamwork is going in my home. I really enjoy Kay Wyma’s style of writing- both conversational and entertaining- while provided me with lots of serious stuff to chew on.

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One of the things I have enjoyed about this book, is that although my kids know how to do a lot around the house, (including cooking), I found that Kay, in her experiment, took what my kids do a step further. When she made her kids responsible for one meal each week, they didn’t just cook it. They shopped for it. And they cleaned up after.

As a homeschooler (nearing the end of our 8th year) I did a ton of “real life learning” when the kids were younger. They shopped with me, helped me pick out produce, and learn to figure out the best price etc. However, this is definitely one area where I began to do things the quick and easy way… with a teenager in the house, I can leave the kids home and go shop all by myself! This has been a great relief to me, and I don’t see it as a bad thing. However, Kay made me think “how will my kids know how to grocery shop, if they go years without shopping?”

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I am excited to be participating with some other bloggers and book lovers in a virtual book club this month! When I first saw Steph’s post about doing a virtual book club, I was intrigued. This winter we made some winter fun with a once-a-month book club that turned out to be even more fun that I imagined! Since this book was conveniently sitting on the shelf at my library, I decided to snatch it up and join in, and I am so glad that I did!

When I read about the book: Cleaning House: a Mom’s 12 Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma, I had two reactions….

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I am choosing to consider this post as early posting for next year. I actually just made this treat again, they were such a hit at Christmas. (And when I finally get all these holiday foods posted, I can have them ready as a collection for the coming November, right?

cookie dough truffles

I saw this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles at ChocolateCoveredKatie.com. They were a part of her “secret ingredient” series (meaning, they have beans instead of a flour/egg/oil base). They looked so good, I had to try them! I made them for our family Christmas get together, and didn’t tell anyone about the chickpea base until afterward. They were a huge hit!

My Tweaks on Katie’s “Cookie Dough Truffles”:

* I doubled (at least doubled, maybe more) the oats

* I reduced the sugar a little bit, because I added in a few chocolate chips

* I added a heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder

* I melted Enjoy Life chocolate chips (with a couple tbs of coconut oil), and after I had let the truffles sit in the freezer for a to harden, I drizzled the melted chocolate all over them, and then refroze them

As I was making the “dough” I kept tasting it until I felt like you couldn’t taste the beans. Since this was special party food, I didn’t want it to taste “healthy,” if you know what I mean? I plan on working on a sugar-free version soon… maybe using dates and stevia. Stay tuned!

I used up the leftover melted chocolate, by tossing in some peanuts and shredded coconut into the pot, and then dropped on wax paper to harden in the freezer. (These never photograph well, but they are very popular around here!)

These treats will be our Valentine’s Day treat tomorrow! They are very quick to make, and made of things I often have on hand already. Let me know if you try them!

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Right now, my girls, my little princesses, are at their first dance with their first prince: Daddy! Is he a true hero, or what!? They are at the Father-Daughter Valentine dance at The Dance Center, where both girls study ballet.

Littlest Princess is gluten-free like me, and whenever an event comes up, or even an outing as simple as kids’ church on Sunday, it takes a little planning ahead for her to not feel left out. Instead of having her bring her own food to this most special event, I contacted the organizers and offered to make some GF options for the food table, so that Molly could just enjoy the party food with everyone else.

Since it was a Valentine’s Day dance, I wanted to do hearts and pink. Of course!

Because life is crazy these days, I wanted to go simple. I opted for this recipe for sugar cookies using Pamela’s Baking Mix. I made them vanilla instead of maple, and I did make the cream cheese frosting. MMMmmmm!!

I also made some Bob’s Red Mill GF chocolate cake mix into cupcakes and used up the rest of the frosting on those. I can’t wait to hear all about it, and see the iphone pics! Memories in the making!

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I am finally getting to my recipe posts of what we ate over the holidays! I actually had to make this recipe again this weekend in order to get a picture of the final product- it was all eaten too quickly the last time!

I have tried a few different doughs/pizza crusts to make an allergy-free version, but none of them were very tasty. I would most often opt to just eat something else, and make regular for everyone else. But not anymore!

dough all rolled out on parchment

I often use Bob’s Red Mill pizza crust mix for making pizza. Then I found this tweak that makes it less sticky, and more roll-able. I divided the dough in half, and rolled out both sections in between piece of parchment paper. I brush the inside with a little garlic butter, and then begin layering rows of salami, ham and turkey, and provolone cheese (uncured, unsmoked meat.. we believe in paying more so that even our treats are healthier).

Then I use the parchment on the bottom to help me roll up the dough. (this is a little touchy… it IS gluten-free dough after all!)

I bake the rolled dough on a piece of parchment paper at 350 until the outside turns golden. Usually around 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven. (I often cut them in half after 25 minutes, to see if the inside is cooked through, or still slightly dough-y)

Slice into pieces about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, and enjoy!

This picture is of the remake so I could take a photo. I only had salami left to use up, so it is missing the other meats!

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My husband and I are not very good at taking time away together. For starters, we are both homebodies, and after that, we like really using our free time to be spent together as a family. However, we know the importance of cultivating our friendship and romance, even if we are slow to remember at times! This weekend we were gifted with a chance to go away for one night, while a close friend kept our kids. Despite the cold weather, I really wanted to see the ocean, and feel the wind blowing the winter cobwebs out of my head. I wanted to hear the crashing waves, and see a horizon I couldn’t fit into a camera lens.

We went to the Owls Head Lighthouse in Rockland. It was a nice little hike out to the lighthouse itself, with lovely spots to stop and take in the view.

The sound of the waves and the wind (with no city noise) was such music to my ears.

Deep droughts of the cold, crisp air, with the sun actually feeling warm in between gusts of wind… I need to get out to the ocean more often, even in winter!

I think I’ll be on a mission to get all of us out to explore some more lighthouses this winter!

I bet I can talk him into it! (See how he carries my camera bag for me? Such a gentleman!)

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Two months in a row with MAJOR adoption news! After the first 2 years of hearing nothing, this is very exciting!

Wisly (we will be changing his name to Wesley) was 2 1/2 when first met him. (On paper anyway… they don’t actually keep birth records in Haiti, so it’s a made up age and birth date). He is now 5. If we didn’t know God’s timing is perfect we would be mourning the loss of those critical years. But we have been privileged to see a reason in our wait, which is not often the case, and so we keep trusting in the One who is truly in control. (It’s not the Haitian government).

Our latest news is that our dossier (paperwork) has finally cleared IBESR (social services) and is ready to head to COURT! We also heard we may not have to appear in person before the judge (a huge money saver with the cost of travel these days!)

When we knew we were getting close to this point three weeks ago, we started praying about the $2120 we would need to send to finish the paperwork process in Haiti. As of today, thanks to generous church family, we are praying for only $816. Small gifts of on-hand cash and larger checks all add up to make such a difference!

We are so close. We could be counting on one hand, the months left until our little guy is finally with us. We will have crossed the 3 year mark when that happens.

If you’d like be a part of this special little guy’s story, you can donate any amount on our fundraiser page via paypal. (Or buy our CD!) We still have travel costs, and follow up homestudy visits coming up as well. We are so blown away when we realize how far in this process we have come (over $20K in fees and travel). It has been a faith building and humbling experience, and we could not have done it without our family, and community, both local and virtual!

I’ll finish this update with the song my heart is singing this weekend, for those who haven’t seen it. This is my “Haiti Song.”

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