Baby cookies

As a mom who "tries" to be healthy and feed my kids healthy food, it can be daunting to come up with foods that satisfy every appetite from baby to teen and still raise the bar on the average meal.  Occasionally I want something easy and convenient for the twins, especially when we have a busy week or are on the road a lot.  Today I baked them some baby cookies.  If we happen to find ourselves in the baby aisle of a certain big box toy store, the older kids inevitably think that grabbing a box of baby cookies off the shelf is a grand idea and that the twins would love something like that.  In a moment of weakness I allowed my older girls to put a box in the cart.  The first time they attempted to eat one, more of the goop that it turned into got on their clothes and carseats than in their mouths, which I actually think was a good thing since there is no way that could have counted as food.  The rest of the box went in the trash.  Two counts against it right there.  For less than 300g of "food" there was a box big enough to fit a small quilt into it.  Such a waste.

I made some cookies with hemp hearts and other great natural ingredients, but actually I think the hemp seeds are more suited to older babies, not one year olds.  Does funny things to their poop, as in, gritty and difficult to clean.

So, here's another one I made this morning.  First I ground up some natural unsweetend coconut, about 3/4 cup, added 2 mashed organic bananas, looked for an avocado I thought I had in the fridge before remembering that I ate it with fish tacos 2 nights ago, added a free range organic egg (thanks to my sister), though any ordinary egg will do,  a splash of vanilla, about 1/2 cup of organic oat bran and 1/4 cup of organic rolled oats.  1/2 teaspoon alum free baking soda and baking powder and that's it.  Baked for about 16 minutes at 350F.  No sugar, no wheat.  I think I would like to try some other things instead of oats though.  I should have thrown in the quinoa flakes instead.  I've done that before too.  Anyway, the cookies are soft but hold together just right for babies.  They ate them with great gusto.  One more thing to easily pack into a container for the road.

Here it is in a more readable form, if only for my own reference.

3/4 - 1 cup ground coconut
2 mashed bananas
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
splash vanilla
1/2 cup organic oat bran
1/4 cup rolled oats or quinoa flakes

Mix together and bake at 350F for 16 minutes.

Keeping up

Physical strength is so good to have, and I believe it helps me cope with all I do. Even after all of the duties of caring for a large home and family, I'm rarely exhausted physically, but I do get exhausted mentally sometimes. Usually it happens when the kids aren't getting along and I'm forced to be the ref for too many of their battles. This is where I can feel like a failure as a mom, because often when I've had enough of it, I end up contributing by yelling at them myself, just to be heard. Which is something we all want. To be heard. Even kids need that, but my sons tend to resort to insulting each other, which I can't stand because they are each insulting one of my kids. I will be honest and say that there have been times when I've resorted to sarcasm with my kids too, and it's something I want to change. Treating each other with respect all the time is really tough! I grew up in a household that required a respectful tone of the kids to all adults all the time, even if the adult didn't deserve respect, but that didn't always apply to the adults and definitely didn't apply to siblings. I had good parents, committed to each other and to us kids, but at the same time, rather uninvolved in our lives on any deeper level than supplying our basic needs other than spiritual ones, which meant spending half our lives in church. Maybe they had it right to let us work out most everything on our own, unlike the helicopter style of today. I always felt the heavy burden of far too many rules, not just from my parents, but from every other adult I came across. Where I grew up, on a conservative college campus, there was a rule for everything, so naturally I felt rebellious and was told I was rebellious a lot. But, really, in the whole scheme of things, I wasn't. I was stifled. Constantly. And not encouraged often enough. Whatever creativity I had was usually mocked, not encouraged. This has resulted in a style of parenting for me, that is somewhat less than supportive of my kids average dreams because I always want them to dream bigger. I keep wanting them to have the desire to do more, but today's generation is glued to electronics. While creative in it's own way, I feel like it doesn't exactly instill motivation or strength in kids. One can learn about any subject under the sun with the internet, so I love it for that reason, but whereas many see certain online games as creative because they are "building" virtual cities and worlds, I see it for what it is, clicking a mouse and moving the arrow keys. All the work has already been done for them by some brainiac video game creator. Now if they were creating their own video games, that would be another story. Or if they were actually out in the garage building things with their hands, that would be great. It's a balance and I keep trying to find things to encourage their creativity and activity. But, it's hard to find things that they can all participate in. Having teen boys, pre-teen girls and babies makes that a super challenge. There's only one of me and 6 of them, so I'm clearly outnumbered. How does one find the strength, ability and creativity to meet all of their needs at the same time? Any tips? I'd be glad to have them. It shouldn't have to be complicated, but it is.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you a hope and a future."

I used to lift weights, now I carry babies.

I've realized over the past several months just how difficult it is to blog with young kids.  Kudos to all the moms who do it, and create read-worthy blogs while raising children.  I haven't had time or energy to post, but lately have been feeling the need to express myself, even if it's just to the blogosphere.  Hubby has been working tons of long hours, so the days stretch into weeks and before I know it, I haven't spoken to another adult unless it had to do with the kids for much too long.  When he comes home from work, he has just enough energy to play a couple of table games with the kids, eat supper, finish paperwork and hit the sack.  I'm grateful that he works so hard for our family, but I know I'm going to have to do something about some one on one with him, because he'll never do it.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.  The kids take up every ounce of my time and energy but there has to be a bit left over for us, right?  Homeschooling 4 of them and still nursing the twins...it's a lot.  Soon they'll be gone and I get this feeling my husband and I will glance over at each other one day and say "Who are you again?"  Hopefully we'll also say, "Hey, you're kinda cute...want to hang out?"

Anyway, I've been mulling over my options lately.  A lot of it is just simple dreaming.  Of course I don't have time to get that degree I've always wanted.  Besides, I keep changing my mind about what I want to be when I grow up, so pursuing a degree in anything might be a waste of time.  There are so many, many things I'm curious about and interested in, but at some point one gets saturated and uninterested.  Do I really want to spend my time on something I'll be sick of before it's done?  That may sound non-commital, but at this point I'm already full up and have plenty to do, so again, I have the luxury to simply dream about what I might want to do someday.  I also feel that life is so fleeting, and is going by at warp speed, so whatever I do, I better make it good.  Right now, that means being here with my kids and living fully engaged with my family.  There are moments when I need a little break from that, but for the most part, it's the greatest thing.

I'm feeling rather out of shape because I don't have a formal exercise regime right now, for probably the first time in my life since junior high.  I enjoy working out, but my kids take all my energy right now.  I fully realize that my strength comes from the Lord and I want to be strong in that way, not just physically.  Of course, as any mama knows, one needs a certain measure of physical strength to be able to get up day after day and care for your family, and often night after night when they are sick one after the other, or as the other night, when I had two babies puking on me simultaneously.  This is something most daddies aren't too familiar with, as most moms I've spoken to have husbands who are very sound sleepers.  Me, on the other hand, I hear everything.  The cat, locked in a kid's room who scratches at the door at 4 a.m. or who has taken to prowling the halls at night yowling sadly for some attention.  I know how he feels, but for pete's sake, it would be great if he would just shut up so I could sleep.  I know that at any given moment one of the kids is going to need me, so I need to nap while I can.  Hubby is tired, but really, I'm not sure men understand the strength it takes to be a mama, unless they are single dads.  A mom is on call 24/7, 365.  While his routine changes up from time to time, mine is virtually the same day in and day out.  That takes strength.  Whether it's driving all the kids to their practices in the city after a morning of schooling, spending the weekends in the hockey arena or band stage, staying in to catch up on housework and laundry after a week of intense learning (see, I do get to go to school), or doing all these things after weeks of getting up night after night to deal with babies who are too stuffed up to breathe and can barely nurse.  One does need strength and sometimes all it takes for me is to recall a memorized verse or say a quick prayer.  I know God helps me even when I forget to ask Him.  I'm pretty sure He gets it, since He never sleeps either.