Tea Party or bust

We wanted to attend the last Tea Party on tax day but unfortunately Rooster started coughing the day before so we decided to skip it. We get another chance in July for Independence Day. What a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July!

Visit the site asap if you don't quite know what the Tea Party is about. Please look up where an event in your state is being held (chances are numerous places) and attend one on July 4. Bring your kids, a picnic lunch, create a neat sign and make a day of it.

Ready, Set, Sleep!

When do you wake a sleeping baby? Ideally, never, but in the real world it is bound to happen out of scheduling necessity or accident (or nutrition if they are newborn).

This week we are doing a mommy and baby swim class that begins at 10:05. Monday and Tuesday our schedule was perfect. Rooster woke from an hour nap at 0915, we pottied, nursed, and arrived several minutes ahead of time. Yesterday was different. He did not want to fall asleep with rocking and nursing for our usual routine (possibly distracted by the dishwasher - note to self, do not run until after morning nap!), so we headed outside for a walk in the stroller. 20 minutes later, at 0845, he fell asleep. I tried to rouse Rooster after a 30 minute nap but he would not awaken. This is not the first time I've tried to wake him up because we have needed to go somewhere, but this is the first time I was not able to gently do so by calling his name. Really?!

So what does a mama do in this situation? I could have been more forceful with my technique, louder voice, picking him up, etc. Quickly I weighed the con and pro: missing a class that is already paid for or letting the little man sleep? Hmmm...2 seconds later I was walking away hoping he would stay asleep a long time. And he did. He awoke from his nap at 10:15.

Sure we missed a day of class (which I was really, really looking forward to because he enjoyed himself so much on Tuesday) but two good things came out if it: a long nap for a tired little boy and another lesson to mama about babies and schedules - follow his cues and go with the flow.

Success in baking

I'm not an expert like my good friend V but I do really, really enjoy baking. After seeing the ingredients (wheat!) and price (really?!) for commercial teething biscuits I decided to bake Rooster some from scratch. I found a basic recipe from several different sites:

3 TBSP oil (I used olive oil)

1 cup rice cereal (can be flavored, IE banana)

1 cup flour (I used brown rice flour)

1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I added this to the recipe for flavor and to mask the taste of olive oil)

ice cold water

Mix dry ingredients, add oil, and start with 1/4 cup water. Add more water until dough is sticky (very sticky!) and pulls away from the sides. Roll out (or press with fingers like I did) to 1/4" thickness, cut into desired shapes, place on cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes (I kept adding more time, probably about 20 minutes total - keep checking on them because you definitely want them cooked through so they don't break easily).

After they completely cooled I gave one to Rooster. He kinda looked at it and then looked at me, looked at it again and did nothing. So I grabbed one myself and starting mouthing it. He's a smart cookie and did the same thing. And continued slobbering all over it for the next 25 minutes. A success!

I do have to say that despite the simple ingredients these biscuits are quite tasty. But then I do love, love, love cinnamon!

Oh, and a warning: these are very, very messy. I would suggest having baby wear only a diaper and definitely have him/her in a high chair (or whatever you use). The goop will be everywhere!

Here is the door

Bye, bye vegetarianism, hello omnivorism.

I prepared some bison meat for Roscoe's birthday dinner the other night. My husband proceeded to imitate the scene from Dances with Wolves for Rooster's benefit. Tatanka, tatanka? Tatanka! Very amusing.

The bison was quite delicious I must admit. It didn't take very long at all to prepare. I sauteed a few patties in some olive oil on the stove top, plus additional time in the microwave (ahem, a wee bit bloody on the inside still). I didn't want to over cook them because I guess it's easy to do that with bison meat.

I also made some chicken a couple of nights last week. Pretty simple when you have a silicone steam cooker from Curves (thanks to my mother in law!) that can be popped into the microwave and done within 10 min. Look for something similar at Amazon, Wal-Mart or William Sonoma. A must have for moms who need to make a very quick dinner. It came with recipes and cooking instructions for chicken, salmon, shrimp and white fish. I'm wondering if red meat can be prepared too...?

This is how I prepared the chicken on night one:

Olive oil to coat bottom

8 oz raw chicken brushed with olive oil and topped with cilantro, black pepper & ginger powder

2 cups frozen veggies

1 TBSP lime juice

Cook in steamer on high for ~8 minutes or until chicken is at 165-170 degrees

And to wrap up a week of new experiences I prepared some salmon on Saturday for an early father's day celebration. It turned out perfect! Quite an achievement for cooking it for the first time . I put the salmon in tin foil with olive oil, parsley and cilantro and baked it at 375 for 20 minutes and then broiled it for 1 minute. Easy. I also made some tabbouleh salad for a side dish, which was much more time consuming with all the mincing and chopping, but worth it.

So far, so good with adding meat to our diet. I am going to be very picky with the type and quality of my meat consumption though. It's not going to be a on the daily menu for sure but I do like the idea (and Roscoe digs it too!) of additional options. Especially additional options with high nutritional value.

Best part: campfires and hiking

We love camping and will eventually take Rooster (maybe this summer - fingers crossed and Roscoe-willing).

Until then I will post pictures from past trips in fond remembrance.

This is the view from our tent at the Great Sand Dunes National Park back in 2005.

We are better

A fantastic piece by Stephen Green today.

Already, the government runs our children’s education and our parents’ retirement. Now we’re allowing it to usurp our banks and nationalize what remains of our auto industries. Within weeks, Washington promises a plan to dictate our health care. To do all this, we’ve let Washington run up enough red ink to impoverish our grandchildren. As if all that weren’t enough, the president still found the time to kick our friends in London and Tel Aviv while courting a genocidal, election-stealing maniac in Tehran. He even gave a speech in Cairo — that oppressed, impoverished Old World megalopolis — in which he assured the world that America really is no better than anywhere else.

bold emphasis is mine

We live in a time were it is uncouth to proclaim one idea/thing/action/outcome/etc. is better than another. Baloney. Not everything is gray, there is black and white. America is better than every other country.

A short non-comprehensive list of why America is superior:

freedom
U.S. Constitution (or what is left of it)
military
history
access to education (or what is left of it)
healthcare
families
states
religion
guns
corporations
small businesses
responsibility (ditto)
self-reliance
innovation
economy (ditto)
individual ownership

Please add to my very, very short list in the comments.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
- Abraham Lincoln

Real Dairy

I never thought I would regularly drink cow's milk again. I was wrong. Milk delivery service from Royal Crest Dairy began last week and I am so impressed! There is no after-taste, it doesn't taste scorched, and it has a texture to it that is absent from not-so-fresh milk.

I am hooked. Not only for the taste, but also the fact that it's packed with nutrition.

Now, my hunt for raw milk has been less successful. Here in Colorado I am unable to just walk into a store and purchase a 1/2 gallon and be done. There is a share program requirement. So, I got to thinking about our travel plans to Nebraska and Iowa this summer. Could I possibly try some there? My hunt continues...

Rooster has tried various new food items recently, one being yogurt. He's loving it! I bought Brown Cow plain yogurt with the cream still on top. Wow! Very yummy.

UPDATE:

I realized Rooster has access to unlimited raw milk on a daily basis, the lucky little guy!

Summer Treats

I like to garden, both flowers and vegetables. I am not a pro at either! But I love learning new things each year - what works and what doesn't work for our home.

Last year I planted way too many veggies in our garden (tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, basil, and rosemary). The broccoli and brussel sprouts were a bust - everything else was yummy!

This year I stuck with just the tomatoes and peppers. Something from last year came back, though. I left it to grow. So far it looks like nothing I planted last year. Weird.

As for flowers, I have an assortment of annuals (snapdragons, zinnias, pansies, lobelia) and perennials (roses, phlox, tulips, etc.), some of which were here at the house when we bought it. Such as this lovely flower:

There are also raspberries and grapes from previous owners. Oh, I can't wait for the raspberries to ripen. They are the best right after picking or on some yogurt and oats in the morning.

Something new for this year is an herb garden. A few small sprouts are emerging from the seeds I planted 3 weeks ago. It's a smaller garden so I stuck to horehound, oregano, and thyme. All should be hardy perennials here in Colorado unlike the rosemary and basil. Eventually I will expand it, maybe by an herb or two a year. Suggestions appreciated!

Pink!

Now the new color of Rooster's cloth diapers (at least the size he currently wears). Silly me - I washed my moby wrap with the diapers. What was I thinking? I wasn't.

A positive thing came out of it though. The few stains on the diapers are now barely noticeable thanks to the new color.

Flag Day

Our flag on display with pride!