Posts by Rebecca Simmons

posted on January 24, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Update on dinners, recipes and baking in the kitchen

The kitchen has been a busy place this January. After the holidays, it’s the time for a detox of things extravagant and out-of-the-ordary treats. It’s been a time to get back to baking, and making no processed foods a priority. As much as we can at least. In the later part of last year, I was lured too often by the convenience of crackers, snack bars, boxes (and boxes) of mac-and-cheese, frozen pizza and too many chicken nuggets for the kids. It’s time to get back on the bandwagon of real food.

I’ve jumped full throttle into getting my kitchen back to normal this month. The urge to get cooking again was jump-strarted by holiday cooking, and yummy black-eyed peas and collards on New Year’s Day. Since then I’ve been trying to cook a more variety of beans, and expose my children to better vegetarian foods.

On this night (where we finally lit the last of those beeswax candles) we had red split lentils, roasted cauliflower, broiled asparagus, sweet potato fries, fried okra and a pork loin for the meat eaters that was baked with apple sauce we canned this fall.

Soup season also fuels my urge to cook – because I LOVE soup in these cold months. There has been a lot “soup recycling,” as my husband calls it. The leftover red split lentils and cauliflower went into a broth and water combo the next day with kale, red peppers, mushrooms, garlic and spices (cumin, colander, parsley and dill). I wasn’t sure about it at first – but it made a tasty soup when my husband made a surprise visit home for lunch.

I got a new cookbook that I am loving. It’s Simply in Season and I’ve made nearly half the winter section already. One night was an apple, sweet potato lentil salad, which got made into a soup for lunch the next day with a helping of greens, onions and spices.

Last night was curry carrot soup – to make: sauté onions, curry, garlic, salt and pepper in olive oil. Chop two pounds of carrots and add to mix. Add two cups of broth and heat on high till carrots are soft. Add water to amounts depending how much broth cooked down. And puree either in blender ( I have an immersion blender).

On soup night we also have grill cheese, or bread with sides of cheese, another vegetable like green beans and sometimes a side of meat.

On my radar from the Simply in Season cookbook for this weekend is a sweet potato soup and stuffed beets.

The sweet potato crescent rolls in the cookbook have been a hit with everyone here and good for school lunches. We’ve made them twice, with a double batch the second time so I could freeze half – which is two dozen.

Another stand by snack here is these pumpkin muffins. The recipe is tried and true as you can see. It came from the famous “Mrs. Linda” who does story time at our downtown library. When my oldest was still an only child, we were regulars. It was before “Mrs. Linda” became a local celebrity with kids and the turn out was small. One day she baked pumpkin bread and handed out slices to the children along with copies of her handwritten recipe for the moms. I still keep it in my pantry next to my flour. Because it’s an all time favorite (along with those memories of story time days).

Instead of two loafs of bread we make muffins. Which are perfect for snacks and lunches.

Mrs. Linda’s Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 cup of sugar

1 cup oil (I use olive oil)

2 cups cooked pumpkin or a 16 oz can

3 1/2 cups flour (I use half white half whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup water

Combine sugar, oil, eggs and bit till light. Stir in pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients and stir into pumpkin mix, adding water as needed. Add nuts if desired. We add mini carob chips for a treat. Grease two loaf pans and bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes. Or Grease muffin pans and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Less if you use mini muffins.

A new thing happening in our kitchen is older children wanting to bake by themselves – with their friends!!!! I really love this. It happened with one friend who found interest in pursuing my shelf of cookbooks. And again with a older family friend who seemed a little bored after dinner at our house. I knew he really enjoyed the cooking classes he had in school last year (while living in Norway) so I suggested they make desert together. It was perfect and a great lesson for me – when pre-teen kids are bored – let them bake.

With the first friend they wanted to make a cake. But we were missing ingredients. They settled on making “Animal Snackers,” a recipe from the March/April issue of American Girl magazine. They made letters instead of animals. Since I couldn’t find it online and it’s become a tried and true kid recipe here – I’ll share.

Animal Snackers

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon dried milk (we substitute real milk)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, milk and salt. Add the vanilla, egg and half the flour. Stir until combined. Add remaining flour and mix again. You may need to mix the dough with clean hands. Roll out dough and use mini cookie cutters for shapes or letters. Place the shapes on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 fro 8-10 minutes.

They made this, for the new year. Which is perfect for my quest for better eating in the new year.

posted on January 22, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Kid-made basement spa beats the fancy resort

Just when I was getting a bit envious of a friend posting her winter break pictures at a beautiful spa designation resort with friends, my daughter created a spontaneous spa day. My mom soul was pampered and it was one of those moments where you feel the ultimate love and spirt of your child. Because nothing in the world replaces a free spa day in the basement, that is totally kid created.

The background music was Teen Beach Movie soundtrack and my feet were placed in a COLD Orbeez luxury spa. (Orbeez are little science experiment-like balls that expand when in water. Here’s a link if the product is foreign to you.) The basement was decorated and there was a sign saying the spa was opened.

I love that this is how they play inside, creating little businesses and making things beautiful with pipe cleaner flower arrangements when there was none avilaible for picking outside.

There were homemade t-shirts for the spa “managers” which was my oldest daughter and her friend. I received a pedicure with pink polish by my daughter wearing a vintage Christmas apron and a hot pink fedora she bought with her own money. They provided a stress relieving session with a box of moon dough leftover from my 4 year- old’s birthday party.

It was all followed by a dance party with the girls wearing my old old prom dresses, to One Direction playing the Best Song Ever. And instead I thought, yep this is the best life ever.

A beautiful spa in San Jose would have be nice. But this life is good. It is lovely in every way.

posted on January 16, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

10 Practical sewing projects for home (and school)

It’s been a while since I felt the urge for straight stitch sewing. The monotonousness of sewing a house full of curtains (and comforters) had me burned out. But after a few projects of deciphering patterns and sewing dresses for girls, some simple projects with a quick gratifying end was in order. The process is satisfying, having something start to finish that can be accomplished on the fly, in a short time.

Over the course of several short times, here’s what I’ve been working on since Christmas.

1. Placemat Runner for Countertop Eating – My girls eat at our kitchen countertop for breakfast before school, snacks and weekend lunches. Our countertops are soapstone and scratch very easily. To protect the countertops I sewed this fun little placemat runner. It took one yard of fabric, plus the extra for the divider strips, and an old quilted shower curtain was upcycled for the backing of it. To make it: cut placemat size pieces of fabric to number the amount of seats you have (I used one yard cut into four equal peices), add three inches of divider material between each place, sew pieces together like a quilt (sewing front to fronts along edges to make the seam on the back) then sew the entire thing inside out to the backing and topstitch the edges and seams along the divider pieces.

2. Matching Server Runners – The spot opposite these three bar stools is usually where I can be found in the kitchen, doling out the food. Once in a while I get to sit not those fun stools, when not in mom mode. But as a whole, I like my perch and cook spot. And I wanted my own little runner to put my bowls and cutting boards. To make them: Use the leftover piece from the original one yard of fabric, cut in lengthwise and add fabric to ends just like the placemat runner.

3. Upcycled dishcloths – I’ve been trying to clean out my sewing stash. And in that, are things I think I can reuse rather than throw out. Therefore, the backing of these washcloths is terricloth fabric that was once the cover on our diaper changing pad. There was a small stain on one part that I discarded. But the rest made for absorbent washcloths for dishes. It will make me happy as I do dishes. To make it: Cut squares that are fitting to your reusable materials – about 9″x9″. Place fabric front to front, sew inside out, reverse and topstitch edges.

4. Drying Rack Mat – These days not everything fits in the dishwasher after dinner. And some things are better off not in there anyway. But I hate the drips of water left on the countertops while things dry. A fun rack mat was my solution. The backside is a hand towel I no longer needed, which makes it super absorbent for catching drips. To make it: Cut fabric the size of your hand towel, sew inside out then topstitch edges and sew extra seams every three inches the width of the rack mat. Pick a fun fabric, to make yourself extra happy.

5. Table Runner and Reversible Children’s Tablecloth – My middle girl has been talking about “the other” elementary class having one of the table cloths that I made in past years for the younger classroom at their Montessori school. So I had to sew another one to donate to the class. This time I used the leftover material to make a table runner. Then I had to make another one for “the other” class to be fair – which is number 6 on this list. To make the tablecloth: It’s 45″x33″ sewn inside out with a topstitch, using a different fabrics for the top and bottom.

6. Children’s table runner – Even at home, my girls love to make things homey and decorate. We’ll be making more of these for our children’s table in our kitchen. To make it: lay out fabric as you see it here, with extra backing fabric to fold edges over and topstitch around it.

7. Scrap Fabric Napkins for School Lunchs – My girls love having fun napkins choose from when packing lunches. To make these: Take scrap fabrics, sew back to front inside out and topstitch – because it’s SO easy. And they are reversible! Mine are usually about 9″x9″ but vary in sizes.

8. Silverware holders for Lunches – I have hopes of getting a higher return on kids using forks to eat fruit, by sending silverware in these cute holders for lunch. To make them: Use the size of fabric that would be for a napkin (above) and cut it in half, sew just like a napkin, then fold down the top and sew edges together.

9. Day Planner Cover and Pencil Pouch – I’m still an old school, paper and pencil planner gal. I like to touch, and squiggle, erase and doodle out my lists. My calendars almost serve as a journal to me, with notes in the margins to keep my home running smoothy and a place to store my random thoughts when they hit me. When I was feeling super lost this week, I ran into Office Depot to grab something I could jot down all my good intentions (like the Valentine banners I want to make). But the options were all so b-o-r-i-n-g – and uninspiring. I found one that fit my practice needs, and came straight home to sew a cover for it. To sew it: Think of it as a book cover we used to make in grade school to cover our text books and sew fabric instead of taping a brown paper bag (you did the too right?). Open the book out to measure the fabric and plan enough to cover the inside pouch, allowing 1/4″ for the seam. Iron in all the sides and sew. Then sew the flaps over to fit the cover. The pouch was extra, because I’m always losing my pencils and writing utensils. Ribbons are tied onto the spiral notebook as bookmakers.

10. Simple Cafe Curtains – What started all this sewing was my long break from sewing curtains. But there were three linger curtains that I never finished during my last go of it about a year ago when decided I just could NOT bare to sew to another straight line. The mismatched ones left bugged me long enough – that I finally finished them as I cleaned out the sewing shelves and unfinished project. To make them: Measure window and add an inch (to be on the safe side) all around the sides – more if you want curtains to gather and be full. I like mine nearly flat when closed. And sew like an inside out pillow case. Top stitch only the top where the clips hold the fabric and leave the other edges seamless for flow like feel.

posted on January 13, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

January sunshine and muddy rivers

After the rain passed, this weekend was full of sunny times, spontaneous kid gatherings, sleepovers, two nights of multi-family dinners around the table eating in shifts (with seven kids), and trips to the park with parades of bikes, wagons and toes in muddy river water. I do love a house full of warm bodies and kid chaos. It fills my heart with joy. Just as much as four year-olds sunbathing in January, right smack in the middle the tennis court.

And these two…. don’t mess with a girl and her stick.

I love when boys enter on the scene in our girl world. It spices things up.

Happy Monday to everyone. The temps are dropping back down, more snow is in the forecast and I planning on sharing all my sewing happenings soon. So keep reading!

posted on January 8, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Mudroom tour

Since we did all our big renovations last year, I have been meaning to do an official reveal of the mudroom. The details of it took a little longer to come together, as we went through a few seasons using it, seeing how we fit into it.

I’m sure there have been glimpse in photos here and there because it’s an extension of our kitchen. But this morning, with the snow, and all the boots and coats and ski pants living in it – I decided it’s a well used snowy winter scene worth posting about. And it’s useful!

Pre-renovations a portion of the kitchen was a makeshift mudroom, to prevent everyone from dumping everything at the door. What is the mudroom now, was an underused screened in-porch with no direct access to the backyard. While it was nice when I needed to contain toddlers while I cooked, as they grew, the girls (and us) wanted more freedom to come and go outside. And more places to hang school bags as activities increase and the kids grow. Now the space works perfectly.

There’s an overflow of winter boots happening now. In the non winter months it is a different scene, with windows swung open, doors opened to the backyard and kids, dogs and cats coming and going. But for now, this scene of winter boots is perfect. All the coats and bibs hanging about are fun. As the snow melts, they’s stay, waiting, hoping for the next snow day. I do love winter. I love that we live somewhere with four distinct seasons.

The coat hook rack that you can’t really see during winter, behind all the coats, is really cool. It’s this one from Anthropologie.

And for the littles, there’s a place for them to hang their coats and bags within reach. It was custom built to be that way, to fit the space and provide low hooks. It’s part of our routine when we come inside, that the girls are responsible for hanging their coats and putting their shoes/bags away. With this set up, even my youngest can be independent. The white ceramic bowl, if you are wondering, is the dog (and cat) water bowl. On most days there’s a towel there too, to wipe off muddy dog paws.

Inside the bench, under the bins that hold old newspapers, dog leashes, and bags, is LOTS of space for shoes, socks, hats and gloves. Each girl gets her own drawer then one for mom. Dad keeps his stuff in a hall closet. Mainly because his shoes are so BIG.

The windows all overlook the backyard and were designed so I could have a panoramic view of the yard from the kitchen. They were handmade by our contractor to match other window styles on this 95 year old house. The ceiling and floors were original to the screened in porch. They were sanded, scraped and sealed with clear stain. The built in bench was made out of reclaimed barn wood, also by our contractor. A glimpse into the organization… Because I must have organization. If not I’ll go bananas. An orderly home makes me a more peaceful mom.

This is not organizational, just a photo I snapped this morning after the girls took off for school. The dog wanted out, the cat wanted in, and I am in my essential wool socks. Because in this old house that I love, it’s chilly this time of year with single pane windows. The cat was making her way in, to sleep on the heat vent – a popular spot.

Now for a little look back, at the porch before it was a mudroom.

I do SO very much love my new kitchen and mudroom. But if I could I would jump right back into these photos from days gone past. They are sweet times that I miss very much.

When the “mudroom” was in the kitchen.

And this was the scene in the kitchen, even before the “mudroom” was in the kitchen.

posted on January 7, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Going to school in the snow

It was officially 1 degree when my kids went to school today. There was snow on the ground and they were dressed like their cousin who attends school in Aspen, Colorado – minus the ski pants that they didn’t wear because that was too out-of-the-ordinary for their comfort zone. But they were wearing layers, fleece and wool socks.

My youngest was not thrilled to go back to school after winter break on this record breaking cold morning. Her snow boots were on the wrong feet and refused to wear a hat to the car because it would “mess up my braid.” But that is normal for this one, and we roll with it.

Despite the cold, my girls will STILL go outside and play today. They might not last long and those who are cold will trickle back in as they choose. But who wouldn’t WANT to go throw snowballs with their friends outside. I just have to say, rock on Montessori. They chose not to be shut down by cold weather.

I do understand schools clossing in districts where children are not equipped with clothing to safely be warm enough in this weather, and when standing at a bus stop is a problem. But all the private schools are closed here too. And the roads are fine. Adults are all expected to be at work today as usual, unless you have a snow kid at home.

While some are surprised the my girls had school today. I think it’s great. The parent handbook addresses wearing proper clothing to school for outside play. And when it gets to be winter, emails are sent out reminding parents to dress their children in winter coats, hats and gloves because unless it’s raining hard —they go outside.

I could go on my soap box about schools not offering enough outside play time. But I won’t. I’ll just encourage you to bundle up the little ones and get outside no mater what the temperatures are today. Even if it’s not long, some bone chilling cold is good for the soul sometimes. And the hot chocolate when you come in will taste better than usual.

posted on January 6, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Snow day!

The letter on today’s coffee cup is a C for COLD. It’s not every decade we have temperatures in the single digits here but we might be headed that way today. There is lots of hot cocoa and frothy coffee, and looking out the snowy windows.

We made it out of for a walk to the park. But as temperatures drop, it might be our only trip outside today.

Here’s to East Tennessee snow angels and one happy little girl to be in the snow even though it was 16 degrees!

posted on January 5, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Cooking, vegetarianism and family food battles

These are the few months where I don’t have my vegetable CSA to rely on, which dictates what’s for dinner. Therefore I have been enjoying trying new recipes and buying ingredients from the store to match a recipe I see in a magazine. I’m happy to be cooking. I really do love it, most days. Except the request for kid dinners gets really boring to me. I can only serve/eat so much pasta and cheese, pizza, hummus, black beans, steamed broccoli, raw carrots, chips and salsa and taco night.

Cooking for five is not easy here because all of us except my husband, have picky tendencies. Aside from him, my four-year-old is the most willing to try new things and eat about anything. I’ll eat anything as long as it’s not meat. Processed soy is a rare treat and better be worth it.

I’m still a vegetarian, but not as hard core. For example I might eat a soup that has chicken stock in it because in certain things, it just makes things taste better. I’d rather make my own bone broth for the real food health benefit. But the time I had good intentions of doing it with a leftover rotisserie chicken, I bailed, with a case of the hebejebes. I cook a few meat dishes for my family because it seems like the best, less processed option on a whole foods scale. But it’s always local, organic meat that I can slide from the package to the baking pan with little or no handling and hassle. It goes straight from oven to table, and I cut chicken in the pan with a pizza cutter to avoid putting on my cutting boards (truely).

Nine years into this kid gig, I’ll be the first to say we’ve had our share of food battles. I have a “vegetarian” kid who won’t eat nuts or beans (except hummus). Some battles we’ve overcome and some I’ve compromised on. I still ask that everyone tries things (my non-eater gets a pass at meat since I don’t eat it either) at dinner, and we have a rule against saying negative comments about what others are choosing. I’ve come along way from taking tofurky and PETA literature to Thanksgiving dinner. But I still want my girls to understand where their food comes from.

I DO go to added lengths at dinner to make sure there is something everyone will like because I don’t want anyone to leave the table hungry. BUT I will not be a short order cook. And if you don’t like dinner, then you can have breakfast in the morning. There’s no snacking later because you didn’t like what I cooked.

Tonight was a perfect example of a dinner made for grown ups, with kids in mind.

We had stuffed peppers from the December Vegetarian Times magazine. I kept some of the arborio rice out separate and side of parmesan cheese because my girls are not keen (like most kids) on much of anything mixed all together. I wasn’t either as a kid and have memories of hiding all kinds meat loafs and casseroles on a ledge under the table.

For sides I made sautéed kale with shiitake mushrooms, onions, dill, coriander, garlic salt and sesame oil. It was so yummy mixed with the stuffed mushrooms. I also made a garbanzo bean salad with parmesan cheese, dill, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I kept some plain garbanzo beans on the side the girls. And we had broiled asparagus because I love it and my “vegetarian” can eat her weight in it.

As a safe bet for all, I baked a pack of chicken tenders (not breaded) in a honey mustard sauce. My girls, all of them, will eat anything dipped in ketchup – sadly. A couple weeks ago I started giving them one serving of ketchup in a tablespoon size glass bowl. The ketchup bottle stays in the kitchen while we eat. And everyone uses a lot less ketchup!

Everyone tried something new tonight but I had a backup of something they liked. No one left the table hungry. And mom and dad were happy to not be eating kid food.

I have to report, that after some hard, long years of getting kids to eat things other than chicken nuggets and pizza, it’s paying off. They ask for kid dinners but don’t expect them. They take turns helping in the kitchen and my middle girl surprised me by making us all lunch one day last week on winter break. It was a break through, a pay off moment. That same day I read a mom’s Facebook status where she said food battles were wearing her out. She has four very young children. I reassured her being a food conscious mom will payoff. And to hang in there.

Here’s what was for dinner, with many small bowls on the table that make passing and serving easier for children – especially my youngest.

Another magazine I’ve been cooking several new things from is the December issue of Real Simple. They ran an article called 10 easy side dishes for the holidays. The roasted mushrooms, braised carrots, roasted endive, beet and ricotta salata salad, and sweet potato wedges were great and will become regular things here. And it’s easy ways to add something to the table to make a kid dinner feel grown up.

My hope in exposing my children to different foods is that one day, just maybe, when they are grown and out to dinner on a date they will choose NOT to order a grill cheese sandwich. I do have one who will eat plain lettuce and calls it “a salad.” It’s the little successes that gives a mom the power to keep going. And the sheer will to not eat any…more…kid…dinners.

If you are wanting to read more about cooking at the Simmons house, read about our 10 Day Real Food Challenge we did spring 2012. There were several more posts too – here, here, here, and here covering everything from popsicles to homemade pizza, restaurant night at home, making yogurt and muffins for snack.

Good luck. And hang in there mamas!

posted on January 1, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

2014…so far it’s glitter, good food and big plans

The good thing about children getting older is they remember traditions, and appreciate the experiences we created for them in the past. The bad thing is when we don’t do them again, they remember what we did before.

I puttered out on offering any New Year’s Eve celebrations for the girls. There was no horns, balls dropping or ringing in the new year on France time. My older girl was disappointed by my lack of New Year’s excitement. It’s endearing really, that she remembered and was asking for that silly stuff at 9:30 when she felt funny going to bed minus the hoopla.

We made up for it with a New Year’s Day cake. I knew the black eyed peas and collard greens wouldn’t be as greatly appreciated by the girls as the parents. But, tradition is tradition and maybe one year they’ll actually feel strange if it’s not offered to them.

The black-eyed peas and collard greens were delicious – good enough to have for dinner on a regular Wednesday. However I’ll take any excuse to make a big chocolate cookie cake. My daughter made the banner for the cake, and felt much more celebratory about the whole day. Chocolate does have that affect on a girl.

In the South having collard greens and black-eyed peas is a must on New Years Day. Without them you’ll have bad luck and be broke. But being a foodie, I have to dice it up bit.

I have been in a food rut since fall. But now I’m feeling more motived to cook again. So I started off the new year with this dish.

A recipe from the Vegetarian Times inspired me, that featured separate black-eyed peas and kale. Earlier in the week I made the recipe from the same December issue, with chickpeas, pasta and tomatoes in vegetable broth. I sort of married the two ideas for this collards and black-eyed peas delight.

First I chopped up a full bunch of collards, finely, rolling the leaves and cutting with scissors. I diced half of an onion and but both in the stock pan. I poured in about 1 cup of vegetable broth with two tablespoons of butter. What makes collards yummy to most southerns is cooking them with ham and other animal parts I don’t even want to think about. I substitute with butter to get some animal fat in there. I let that cook for about 30 minutes before adding one can of diced (drained) tomatoes. And then I kept it simmering for about 30 minutes after that. As it cooks, add flavor. I used Tabasco sauce (a southern thing), garlic salt, turmeric, parsley, oregano and then when something was missing I put in a teaspoon of stoneground mustard because I didn’t have any dried mustard.

Cook the black-eyed peas separate by boiling them with salt. I soaked mine over night and then quick boiled them for 20 minutes in the afternoon, soaked them till dinner then boiled them until soft and poured the whole pot (with water) into the collard greens. I left the whole concoction simmering on the stove for another 30 minutes or so until we were all ready to eat. The longer you cook it all the softer the greens get. So really, it’s a preference thing. I still like some crunch to my greens.

While all that was cooking in the kitchen there was crafting in the basement, book snuggles with sisters, hair designs happening, ping-pong and girly giggles.

Every year we go around the table after dinner talking about our family resolutions – as so many of you probably do. We started doing this as group art time in the early years, before little ones could write a list of resolutions. This year everyone just blurted out things as I attempted to jot down notes.

The big picture is, everyone wants to travel more – the kind that requires stamps on our passports. I’m game! The youngest girl wants to go Asheville – this weekend. They are looking for adventure.

My husband was blessed this year with a new work adventure as he started his own company and left the safe zone of a regularly scheduled paycheck. It was a leap he’s been waiting to take since the night we met and he told me he wanted to “buy and sell companies.” I was thinking Pretty Woman and Richard Gere. I was 21 years old. He was 25. This summer we’ll celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Time.. is.. flying. Well I really be 38 in February? The number looks s-t-r-a-n-g-e.

Things are going great for him. His resolution was to keep it that way. I’m always leery of risk. I’m super proud of him for taking this leap and I knew it would great for our family. For the first time ever, I convinced him to take off the time between Christmas and New Year’s Day. So I think I’m going to like this new set up!

In 2014 I’m focusing on the smaller day-to-day things that will make our family better, happier and growing together. I’m not sure exactly how yet, but I’m going try and be more patient, peaceful, organized, attentive, present and a better listener to my girls. And of course, I vow to exercise more, eat less chocolate (ahem), walk the dog, go to yoga…all that jazz.

But taking time for more glitter, saying yes to more glue and worrying about the details later is a good place to start…I figure.

posted on January 1, 2014 by Rebecca Simmons

Christmas catch up and welcome New Year

This is a very late Christmas catch up post, on New Year’s Day. We rung in 2014 on Monday with an evening out, because finding a babysitter on New Year’s Eve is impossible. So I spent New Year’s Eve writing, hoping to catch up here and get even with the calendar. Then time got a way, the neighbors were yelling Happy New Year, I went to sleep, and the kids woke me up. It happens…. I want to blog, then things come up and then I wonder, do I really want to share that? Then time passes, I decide to sleep on it and a new day comes.

It’s a delicate balance of what to share and what secrets to keep for myself. So my presence here has been hit or miss the last few months. But I hope to share more in the new year, as I feel some serious sewing coming on and I am digging myself out of a food rut. The fun stuff is easy to write about. And I do love to write.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas full of meaning and love. This was my first Christmas when the merry and the joy part didn’t quite jive with jolly. But it was filled with meaning and love.

As some of you remember, it was Christmas last year when my middle girl was asking Santa for a baby brother – which tipped my maybe just one more gauge into trying for just one more.

After a year-long journey that ended with no baby to celebrate or plan for, this Christmas had a looming sadness over it for me. In November there was a second miscarriage that I decided not to share about here (nor did we tell the girls this time). So this season I felt the loss of two little souls, had an emptiness within me, and I just wanted to be still. I did the bare minimums to make my girls happy. Shopping was sparse and holiday outings were pared down. I worried the girls would notice Christmas morning was minimalistic, and be disappointed. But that wasn’t the case. And once again I learned less is better.

My youngest girl talked and talked and talked – even having conversations with our elf up until the day before Christmas – about getting a “real live” turtle. In the end, a new wooden play toaster and bakery set made her very happy.

The others were thrilled with a CD player, 80’s cd’s and a set of curlers for her hair. The Flying Turtle scooters were a bigger hit than I predicted and have kept them happily zooming around the basement. The dog is still happily snoozing on her new bed which holds a poignant reminder printed on it, “Always kiss your dog goodnight.” Sometimes we don’t show enough love for this loony dog who still tests our patience with all her barking and chewing (she’s almost age 4). I think the saying works for us all, across the board.

The santa bag that is usually overflowing with gifts was WAY less than full this year. But it was all I felt like doing and my thought was….it’ll have do. I still worried they would feel something wasn’t quite festive enough on Christmas morning.

It turned out, I was so wrong. Because it was so merry.

My girls made it so very merry. These little elves of mine had been busy making things for each other, and sneaking a quick buy here and there with their own money – all for each other! For days they held each other in suspense, begging to open this or that from under the tree. But they waited.

On Christmas Eve I sat in front of the tree feeling the sadness and looking where there seemed to be a missing stocking. And then, I started inspecting the homemade wrappings and decorations that had been proudly placed on and under the tree. Our home is full of love and I see it in all my girls do…even when it’s making up after a fight. They remind me daily to be more patient and kind when my fuse is low. They stop to give me a hug when they see I need one, understanding a little love makes everything better. I can always learn something from them. And I learned a lot by looking under the tree Christmas Eve.

And on Christmas morning in their mama made matching night gowns (the one thing I made sure to get done this season), they darted out of my bedroom to the tree and immediately started sharing the gifts they had prepared for each other. They were most excited to give than to receive. And watching it made my Christmas morning more than merry.

This year has made me appreciate my girls to the fullest, be more proud of them, feel incredibly blessed to have three healthy children, and be thankful for my three perfect pregnancies I loved and cherished. The second miscarriage this year taught us these things more than ever, after a rare chromosome abnormality was suspected at 11 weeks, followed by a loss of a heartbeat at 12 weeks and a miscarriage at 14 weeks that I attempted to have naturally without a D&C.

The year 2013 held ALOT to cope with. Yet it’s difficult to move on from it. I’ve learned I’m perfectly happy to be a stay-at-home-mom (forever I thought I sold myself short) and my girls deserve every part of me that I give to them. I don’t mean to gush and make this into an I love my kids post, because everyone loves their kids. But after what we went though this year, there won’t be a single day in 2014 where I take them for granted.

We wish you a Happy New Year full of good things to come.