new blog format

Reflection/Noticing: 

I have been spending some time off and on in the past several months considering the flow of our living and playing spaces. I have been searching for living books to add to our shelves and organizing the bookshelves for books, puzzles, games, trucks, blocks, and all the other things a 2 year old loves to play with on a daily and weekly basis. Some of the photos I document here are a visual bookmark for me to remember how something looked in the moment for future reference.

Day/Week/Month activities:

playing with lots of trucks :: reading books :: puzzles :: music on CD player (even though it skips) :: curious george dvd from the library :: shoveling snow with daddy

Books Reading:

We read dozens of books each week but I will highlight 2 or 3 favorites. Papa, Get Me the Moon by Eric Carle :: Dinosaur series by Jane Yolen :: Welcome to the Symphony (plays Beethoven's 5th) :: Popup books (bugs and animals)

I am reading through Summa Domestica by Leila Marie Lawler, of Like Mother Like Daughter blog :: Also The Little Oratory (by her and David Clayton) and Around the Year with the von Trapp Family by Maria von Trapp  -- all helping me reconsider prayer, children, home, and the creative and Catholic impact in our immediate environment.

Area Organized/Cleaned/Rediscovered:

Thinned some board books to make room for others; rotated books between library and bedroom

Meal cooked/enjoyed:

Pork roast in crockpot with cumin, lemon, and lime (From More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea. Probably one of my most used cookbooks in general and definitely the most favorite crock pot cookbooks). I served that with cilantro rice, homemade refried black beans, salsa, sour cream, siete cassava flour taco shells, shredded cheese, sliced radishes.  

I've recently made homemade beans for the first time. I am not sure how it took me that long and why I thought it was more difficult that buying canned beans. Basically it's soaking dried beans for a certain amount of time then cooking them (either stove, or crock pot but I prefer the latter). Then the result is equivalent to about 3 cans of beans from the store. 

We also made this Cassava flour pizza crust and it was fantastic! from Mommypotamus