Daredevil

Ever wondered if daredevils get their need for thrills from an early childhood experience????? Found this video when I was cleaning off the camera, it's a little long but the first few seconds really say it all.

GIVEAWAY!

If there ever was a mom from my own generation who I'd love to be more like, it's Heather over at Cultivated Lives. A fellow KONOS alum, she speaks my language and I love her heart for her boys.

She's doing a fabulous giveaway for a fabulous cause over at her blog and it's ridiculously easy to enter--in fact, you'd be crazy not to enter!

Hope to see your name in the comments section over at Cultivated Lives...and best of luck to you :)

In case you didn't see all the links above, you can enter here.

It's Good To Be A Girl

u


My Aunt Theresa gifted Dia with this beautiful tutu (along with the adorable hoodie and fantastic leggings) for Christmas. People often stop Dia to tell her how beautiful she is, but in this outfit, well, we couldn't walk into a store without literal gasps of "Oh my gosh--do you see how cute that little girl is?" A few folks even yelled at us from across a few yards "ADORABLE!" What can we say? We love being a girl! Thanks, Auntie T!

thanks

Just a quick thank you for enduring all these changes to the blog. I am most assuredly not tech-savy but somehow want these black and white keys to express what I feel on the inside...thus, a lot lot lot of changes. Not sure I've quite found my style yet, but appreciate your understanding.

Xo,

Steph

Creamy Onion Dip--Raw Vegan (By Request)

A beloved vegan friend suggested I post this recipe after I mentioned it here and I am tickled she asked. She actually gave it to me a few years back and we all grinned as her kids literally licked it off their veggies. If you've been wanting to encourage your kids (or family) to veg up but hesitate to use bottled ranch dressing (and I fully support your hesitation--that stuff is full of yucky, horrible, no good chemicals), we have your answer! This recipe is raw, vegan and still high in protein, and of course, flavor.

If you have never pulverized nuts/seeds, you're in for a treat (does that sound wrong or is it just me?). Raw nuts are full of healthy and necessary to life oils. Soaking and then blending them releases these oils, which is why you can get the creamiest of dips (and cheesecakes!) from cashews and macademias. Crazy, huh? I didn't believe it myself until I tried it. And where there are various concerns (scientific as well as anecdotal) with dairy, the only concern with nuts is the potential for an allergic reaction. (This is a great dip to make for anyone who is lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy, too.) So as with any nut/seed, wait until you're comfortable introducing them as a new food and make sure to introduce them as the only new food for about two weeks to able to watch for and pinpoint any sings of reaction.

This not only makes a great dip for vegetables, but with some added water it also makes a great salad dressing. Use it anywhere you'd use traditional ranch dressing. This recipe does not require any soaking of the cashews.

Creamy Onion Dip

2 cups raw cashews

1/4 cup water (or more if needed)

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp salt

2 small or 1 large garlic clove(s)

1 Tbsp onion powder

2 Tbsp dill

Blend all ingredients in high powered blender or food processor until creamy. Add more water for creamier texture if needed/desired. And as with nearly any recipe I use, feel free to add to/subtract from the measurements suggested until its flavor suits you.

*Apologies for the poor photo quality--my cell phone was the only camera available at the time.

Look Ma!

Dia found a new way to ride her bike....



And knowing the fearless and fun girl that she is, I can see her turning BMX tricks in no time!

I May Not Look Old Enough...

But word on the street is that I am a Grandma!









Dia is all about the babies and plays regularly with the baby doll I gave her for Christmas but has always had a special place in her heart for this beany baby type teddy bear that we call "Baby Bear." And yesterday, we took Baby Bear around the neighborhood for a walk. The cutest thing was that she would pull Baby Bear out of the stroller to show her different things like the neighbor's fantastic animal Christmas light collection (yep, mid-January but looks like December 25th still on their front lawn!) and our other neighbor's water meter. SO CUTE. I was grinning and holding back laughs--sometimes I wonder if someone is filming this stuff and just hired Dia as an actor because she is just so adorable I can barely believe it! She is amazingly maternal already...so maternal, I feel like a Grandma!

Inspiration

As I wrote a little earlier, I am finding my way as a mom more and more these days. Since I plan to home-school, some people ask me when I'll start.

Start? Start what?

Start educating my daughter? Isn't that what I did when we read books this morning? Or took a walk to pick oranges yesterday afternoon? Or when I pushed her on her bike through the neighborhood and she stopped to explore their water pipes?

Actually, I think she learns A TON when we grocery shop and run errands. She learns not just the basic facts of handing money to the cashier, but also how to smile and be polite. How to wait our turn nicely. How to behave and function. (Did you read about her "maying"? I mean, if that isn't proof that child training begins right at home, then I don't know what is!) There are a lot of great teachers out there, but no one quite like Mama and Papa. Certainly no one who loves her as we do, so even with all our disqualifications, the grace of a loving relationship can (hopefully...) endure and even flourish.

Rory brought home this book from the library a few weeks ago and it has been an excellent read. The writing isn't anything special (kind of reads like a book report actually!), but its simple style lends itself well to the meat and weight of the content. And as a mama trying to find her stable footing, I've even cried at some of the stories as their honest and hard-fought fight to do what they know is right resonates with me. And I've been extremely inspired to pursue our own path with home schooling and child-raising. It can be hard to go it alone, so to speak. To not only be so confident in what I know is right for my daughter, but to actually walk it out.

One of the moms from the book says, "People everywhere are following the same general plan of nursery school, school, college, jobs. It is always surprising to me, that they don't believe they have any other choices. ... One of our goals is to help (our daughter) be true to herself, not to follow the herd. The gift we're giving our daughter is to be able to take eighteen years of her life, at the beginning, and really discover who she is, what she's good at, and what it means to be a good person. We're giving (her) the space to pursue many interests, and to reflect on who she is and where she wants to go in her life."

Another, "One pleasant surprise for me has been the experience of seeing us all become so close. Unfortunately, the way my children value my company and my opinion is something rather foreign to many families these days. We live as a team, with each member making contributions appropriate to his or her age and gifts. So we have a true sense of needing each other." Later the same mom says, "I want everyone to know: You can do this."

And this was a great, simple answer to the socialization question: "Our children interact with each other daily. There are people of different ages, different personalities, different temperaments under one roof. They play with people in our neighborhood. They participate in a variety of activities of their choosing. ...for us socialization means much more. We're teaching our children to be productive members of our family so they can be productive members of our community and, later, the world. ...I don't think the public school system teaches true socialization. They teach a child to conform to the group around him. I don't want my kids conforming to a group of children who make fun of those who are different (two of her boys have ADHD, just so you have a little background here). I don't want my teens conforming to a group where doing their assignments means they're inferior and weird, and where they have to smoke, drink and have sex to fit in."

And this one really hit home: "When a child is in school, the teacher slowly replaces the parents as the authority figure of a son or daughter's life. It takes some time to switch it back to the way it should be."

But mostly it was reading stories like this that inspired me: "I love homschooling and the kids love it, too. We live a homeschooling lifestyle. We don't try to mimic the public school's schedule or time blocks. ... Learning is fun and exciting for my children, because they don't have to worry if it's going to be on a test. They can read for enjoyment... and they love being able to express their ideas without being mocked by their peers."

"It's wonderful to be with your child as he takes his first step and says his first word. With homeschooling, I get to be there as they reach other milestones as well. I was able to hear my children read their first words and spell their names for the first time. When they make one of their many realizations and discoveries, it is my husband and I who to share that celebration with them."

Of course, "There certainly are unique challenges in homeschooling. Perhaps some see these as problems with homeschooling. But I see them as family challenges. Normal family problems may be magnified when families are together for longer periods of time, such as kids arguing, kids not wanting to listen to their mother or father, and a mom with burnout." Personally, I found these problems to be problems whether homeschooled or not. Homeschooling offers the time and availability to work them out. There was nothing worse than being sent off to school after having a fight with my mom. Being homeschooled, well, you're either going to resolve that issue or....well, you're gonna resolve it, buddy!

But the best and most reassuring parts could be found in almost all 21 stories: their housework is never done either! Yes! I love that I'm not the only one! (Please, don't point out that most of them have mulitple children.)

When All You Eat...

When all you eat (and drink) are veggies, apparently all your kids will want is veggies, too.

Eating raw has been different this time around. The first time was exciting, like an experiment. We kept it quiet from our beloved carnivore/omnivore friends and had an adrenaline rush that kept us digging for more information. This time around, Whole Foods has a raw section! And it has actually affected my excitement, I think. It now feels a little more common and well, common just isn't as exciting as uncommon. I am thrilled that the raw lifestyle is growing in popularity and we found some great treats in the raw section, but there was something special about those first trips to the farmer's market where I just grabbed everything green and made my husband eat it. We had lots of "fun."

But where the novelty may have worn off, there's nothing quite as adventurous as living with India. She's given this detox quite the motivation I needed, not to mention that I can't eat any of her same food allergens since I'm nursing.

And it turns out that her food allergies/sensitivities were a kind of answer to my prayer. I kept asking the Lord for a kick in the pants, so to speak, to eat better. But like I said before, too often settled for the goat cheese quesadilla. Nothing's wrong per se with a goat cheese quesadilla, but it's not very nutrient rich. And by the time dinner came around, even serving it with a salad still left me on the short end of the vitamin stick.

But when you take out eggs, wheat (all kinds), corn and a variety of "easy" fruits like strawberries and watermelon, well, you're left with veggies. Lots and lots of veggies. I think food choices have actually become easier now that we're raw vegans again. And our delightful girl who always preferred bread to carrots and pita to hummus, now prefers raw kale (mostly she gnaws on the stem or swirls it around in her mouth until she's licked all the dressing off, ha ha), steamed carrots and raw nut cheese. And this girl loves to juice! If juicers weren't so pricey, I'd recommend buying them as toys.

One of the easiest ways I've found to make dinner is simply steam whatever veggies we eat raw. So tonight we had a romaine and spinach salad with sesame oil and rice wine vinegar served with nut cheese (this stuff has always been popular with non-raw fooders, too!) on cabbage with broccoli, carrots, bell pepper and sprouts. So I threw the broccoli and carrots into the steamer with some added potato and voila! Combined with some garbanzo beans, Dia was like, "Bread? Bread who?" Yippee skippee!

Plus, Rory and I are chock-full of greens. Can you say "Win-win"?

And this is the video where I got my raw nut cheese (she calls it pate, I call it cheese or spread) recipe. It's still our favorite. And yes, we did buy and still use the tiffin. I highly recommend them! We love ours.

Mama's New Toy

This is my new toy and I just love it! While Rory is over the moon at Apple's latest announcement (he's been holding out on renewing our contract with Verizon for over a year in anticipation of the iPhone), I jumped for joy when I saw this beauty at Whole Foods a few days ago.

I've loved my stainless steel bottle for years, but with this trusty friend there's no metal taste, no dark interior that never feels quite clean enough and no dents. Though, obviously, I'm a little nervous about shattered glass...So far so good!

Plus, and here's the real stinger, it's dishwasher safe! Yes, this is my new toy.

Christmas Memories--Age 1

We couldn't help but call this last Christmas "Dia's First Christmas." Sure, she was here with us in '09 celebrating, but this year, she could sing Happy Birthday, Jesus ("Happy, happy, happy aaaaaaaa"), open presents, give presents, and most of all, really enjoy our whole family together. It was spectacular!

As a family, Rory and I are still testing out new traditions and finding our place in the holiday season. His entire family on his mother's side (somewhere near 100 people, I think) all get together on Christmas Eve in West Covina, California. It's his family's tradition and while we had planned to celebrate with them this year (since we stayed in AZ last year), Rory decided that all the work and planning needed to get the three of us over there might dampen the whole spirit of the season. It was a tough decision--we LOVE going out there and being with all that family!

But we were thrilled with what ended up happening back here at home. Christmas Eve started off with a new tradition:


Matching Family Pj's! (It's hard to tell from the blurry camera, but we all had red Christmas greeting shirts (Dia's said, "Who needs Santa when you've got Grandma"--which Grandma loved) and black pajama pants. It was fun to get new pj's on Christmas Eve!) I stole the idea from a friend and, quick tip, don't head out to the stores a few days before Christmas looking for matching pj's, but we have fully adopted it as our own tradition and we all loved it. Even Rory got a kick out of it. It was fun--kind of felt like we had our own cool club, The Starks Family, and that Dia was not just born into our family but officially a part of something bigger than ourselves, our family. I know that's a lot to expect from pajamas, but what can I say. We had fun. :)

We then spent Christmas Eve as a family just the three of us opening up presents and eating Papa's homemade chili. It was a great time to really enjoy just being a family and we even set up the video camera to record all our merriment.

Rory and I had given each other our vacation in California last August as our Christmas present, so gave ourselves a small dollar amount with which we could use to fill each other's stocking. I totally went over the limit, but we had a lot of fun opening gifts from each other while Dia played with her first gift:

Dollhouse nursery furniture! It even came with a tiny baby. What she didn't know was that this furniture was for the dollhouse Grandma and Oma got her for Christmas that she would open up in morning. She didn't need the house, though, as you can see from the pics below. She went crazy when she opened up her "Bee be! Bee be!"

This is her saying "Cheese" ("Deeesh") for the camera

Her fascination with the dollhouse furniture (you can see the little baby doll in her hand in the pic above) kept her busy enough for Rory to open his gifts (a vanity plate for his work truck among other things) and give me a few beauties: the book The Alchemist (very new age, kind of like reading a novel version of the Dr. Bronner soap bottle, but I was still able to glean some wisdom from it and I really enjoyed it's encouragement to banish fear), a lot of great baking utensils (he tries to gift using a theme and this year it was kitchen accessories--you know the cool kitchen things you'd love to have but never take the time or money to buy for yourself?), but my most favorite gift of all, the one that brought the tears, is a photo book he made called "Mommy and Daughter." It's full of pictures of just Dia and me from her first year. If you're a mom, you know how rare it is to get shots of you with your beloveds--usually we're the ones behind the camera. So to get an entire book full of pictures of just the two of us made me feel like the luckiest mom ever.

And after we were done with our sappy, Mama/Papa gift-giving (wink, wink), we brought out the big guns:



Her first baby doll and her first bike! Killer combo, let me tell you. We both hit this one out of the park. While all her gifts were obviously from both of us, the bike was a special project Ror worked on for her while I scoured the world wide web for the perfect baby doll. It's hard to tell from the pics, but she was floored with both gifts. And that last pic of D on the bike is EXACTLY how she rides it: one-handed, leaning back as far as she can go while holding her baby with the other hand. She reminds me of John Travolta's character in Grease! No idea why, but she has this motorcycle cool approach to her life that makes me laugh.

Honestly, we could have ended right then and there and had the greatest Christmas ever. We both were shocked at how more special gift-giving was even just between the two of us. I was also convinced that no child really needs any more than two or three gifts at one time. It would have overwhelmed her and left with her little option than to feel out of sorts and act out. Which is kind of what happened the next morning...

When I picked out the "Who Needs Santa When You've Got Grandma" shirt, I wasn't joking. A huge part of my mother's love language is gift-giving. And by that I specifically mean giving Christmas gifts. She's addicted. Has been since I was very small. I've been trying to prep her all year in hopes that she would take the "less is more" attitude with her granddaughter.

For the most part it worked. She really only did buy the one "toy": the dollhouse with furniture and a doll family. BUT there were lots of other things for Dia to open like clothes, shoes (if Dia even sees the shoe section at the store she immediately shrieks "Shoes!" and wants to go right over to look closely at all of them), a purse, books and even two beautifully sentimental gifts she and my dad made. I need to post pictures of them but can't find my camera....For one, she and my dad made a bird feeder. A beautiful wood base with a nail standing up in the center to put apples or other fun bird food on that you hang from the roof or a tree. She painted it to say "Dia's Bird Feeder" and it's so special to have something that both her grandparents worked on together. I was touched. The other, well, the other was a project I had started but hadn't finished. She spent weeks finishing it for me (and Dia). I really need to post a picture to do it's justice. It's the most beautiful quilt made out of Dia's baby clothes. She even used the blood-stained blanket and towel that were the first things to hold her after she was born. It's just....beautiful. Perfect and beautiful and I cried and cried. Most of the onesies wore had cute organic-like sayings (since she only wore organic clothes the first 6 months of her life and those clothing options are rather limited) so the quilt is full of sayings like "Organic Baby," "Green is the new black," "Be friends with nature," etc. It's one of my most prized possessions and if Dia grows up feeling indifferently towards it, I'll count it a blessing and keep it forever for myself!

We did learn for next year, though, that too many presents left Dia unable to enjoy the moment, the people and even the gifts themselves. At one point I even wondered if that was the Jewish secret: eight nights, eight gifts, no temper tantrums! She never threw an actual tantrum, but for me, the day would have been just as beautiful if she spent it riding her bike and then playing with her dollhouse. There is a certain element, though, too of being the only grandchild/niece on both sides that keeps her constantly in the spotlight. While it's lots of fun, I think sometimes it might even add pressure to her little heart. We're learning and will keep you posted on how we handle these precious responsibilities of raising a daughter.

Overall we had the best Christmas of our lives, though. Family came to us this year (a major first) and so we served GF Banana-nut waffles, veggie frittatas and fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast. We had a lot of fun and are very grateful to my family for making the trek up here for Christmas morning. After naptime (Rory and Dia napped for close to 2 hours!!!), we went over to my aunt and uncle's to see my cousin in town from RISD and grandparents in town from Cali. We had a great time over there as well, but it will only get more fun for us as more of the family has little ones of their own. Dia really is the only baby, but she has great fun playing not only with all the adults, but the Jack Russell named Bella and Pekingese named Chin-Chin (who she calls "Mo" because it looks just like Oma and Opa's Pekingese named Mo).

Here are some more pics from the big day:

Not just any shoes--silver sparkly shoes that she LOVES

Leather bomber jacket--my two sisters dress her like she's their personal doll!

Her purse--complete with coin purse, of course

Oh! And they found this great bird book at Costco (it even makes all the bird noises and has numbers corresponding to each picture so that you can learn more about each bird) that they gave her with the bird feeder. She loves it--she's waving hi to the birds :)

This isn't from Christmas morning (obviously) but this is Dia's dollhouse--she loves it. We play with it at least once a day, usually she asks for it first thing when she wakes up. Thank you, Oma and Grandma!!!

And what would Christmas morning be without one big surprise present? Dia wasn't the only one shrieking that day...My mom and dad gifted my sisters with their most prized possession to date. So fun! No wonder my mom is addicted!

Living The Dream

I'm beginning to get the boldness (and stable footing as a mom) to trek towards the life I dream about. I'm excited. I'm also careful. And very, very purposeful.

As Dia nears closer to the one and half year old mark (ok, that's still over two months away, but hey!), and my overly dramatic self chimes in that that means there's technically only sixteen and a half years left, I get motivated to do NOW what I want to look back on then.

It's meant changing my priorities. It's even meant changing my friends. It's meant altering my time. And slowly, yet ever so intently, loosening my control until I can find the joy in any (and every? I hope) moment.

It's not a New Year's resolution. As a family, though, we've labeled 2011 the year of "Face It." As in face reality, face the truth. When the discussion ran across my hub's health, we fist-pounded (oh to live with a boy...) and said in unison, "Gotta Face It. 2011, baby!" When it came time to evaluate how Dia spends her days, yep, we faced it. We're being bluntly honest with ourselves only in the most encouraging of ways, knowing that from the truth springs freedom and health.

Which brings us to the re-introduction of the raw foods lifestyle. Yep. We're baaaaack! The raw foods lifestyle is not necessarily for everyone, though the health benefits (when done correctly, of course) are hard to deny. As former raw fooders, we found ourselves often exulting the high energy, stellar health and overall better quality of life that we experienced as raw fooders. The question inevitably came up, "So why don't you eat raw now?"

"Uh...well, we....um, can I get you something else to drink?" Total brainlessness. Why don't we eat raw now?

You guessed it. Time to Face It. (You can imagine the pounding of fists, I'm sure.)

So as of last Monday, Rory and I are back on the wagon again. The last few days were a little rough (going from a relatively healthy eating habit to strictly raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and oils can really do a number on your digestion, mood and energy). We mutually agreed that neither of us could really expect anything from the other while we went through our detox--some nights we were in bed by 8pm, some days we fought headache, only today did we clean house and finally have enough energy for some outdoor fun.

But we both admit, we're feeling pretty good!

We have put in place a few stipulations (if you are a strict raw fooder, you will soon find heretical type, so be forewarned):

1. We will eat fish (cooked) once weekly.
2. We will eat red meat (cooked) once weekly.
3. Dia will eat whatever she wants. That is to say, we aren't altering her diet or "veganizing" her in any way. She still eats chicken, rice, rice pasta, goat's milk yogurt, etc. (She's still overcoming her food allergies/sensitivities so we already avoid wheat, corn and other foods.)
4. As a nursing mom, I'll be trying to eat an avocado, coconut (water and meat) and drinking a cup of Mother's Milk tea a day.
5. I'll continue (but with more motivation) to get a regular B-12 injection for an extra boost for both my health and Dia's.

So a couple of clarifications: I'm obviously not vegan out of concern for animal welfare. It would seem to me that a tree is just as alive as any animal and I do believe that God created plants and later meat for our food. I do believe that meat contains necessary nutrients, however, I believe it should be consumed in very small quantities (i.e., once a week). I also talked with my and Dia's doctor (a naturopath) about this and got her full approval, though, I'm sure at first she had a litany of protests on her tongue (my stipulations and careful forethought, I think, convinced her I wasn't a total joke).

And so far, I think I'm actually getting better nutrients and even better quality calories than before as an organic, gluten-free, sugar-free omnivore. For example, many a day did I decide on a rice four tortilla with goat's milk cheddar cheese as a valid lunch, whereas today I had an apple with peanut butter (not technically raw, but we were out of almonds) and a plethora of carrots, celery, tomato and avocado with a cashew-based (high protein) dill dipping sauce. (I also graze a lot more on this diet and basically finished my breakfast up until it was time to make lunch.)

And while this raw foods re-conversion and the year of Facing It are important, this post is really about finding the boldness to live the life I want--for both my and me. Not only is there no excuse, but there's really no reason not to!

Dia and I have had some pretty stellar days just at home the two of us. I mean stellar, stellar. As in wowsa. Super uber wow--ok, you get the point. I don't have any awesome pics of amazing field trips or really even many social activities at all. I've been letting me be Dia's friend. I've been allowing me in the events of daily life to be her model. I've been finding the joy in reading the same book four times (or more), riding our bikes (so need to post about Christmas!!!), making stuff together and letting the big event be grocery shopping--I'm one of those moms that doesn't like shopping WITHOUT Dia. I guess you could say I've been simplifying. And I just love it. And by intentionally simplifying, I'm eliminating the stress that stole the joy from the simple in the first place. Does that make sense?

Basically I'm finding the freedom and courage to make our days just I want them to be. No pre-set schedule, no outside obligations. Just Ror, D and me. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner!

Maying

We are still maying over here at the Starks' house, friends. Actually, we may everywhere. We may ("pray") in the car, at the park, on walks, at Oma's house, at Grandma's house. Really, whenever the urge strikes. We have even been known to may several times during one meal.

And I can't believe how little I actually prayed before. I have a regular-ish routine of devotion time (prayer journaling and Bible reading), but I have been shocked how rarely I really talk to the Lord as the day builds. And her sweet, innocent requests to may throughout the day (at seeingly random times), has quieted and encouraged my heart so much. We pray about almost everything these days and it is wonderful. Quick and heartfelt, our maying has been a sweet time of talking to our Papa.

Now most of my prayers begin with thanking the Lord for Dia--something I do often, but now I am extra grateful for her encouragement to may at all times without ceasing (ok, except when we watch Babies--we have yet to stop to may during her favorite movie). :) And yes, when I had a headache and was discouraged by the piling housework and Dia (in the middle of a kitchen floor covered in plastic forks and spoons and paper bowls and napkins), looked up with the squinting and said, "May?" I cried.

Through tears, "Yes, Dia. Yes! Let's may! Dear, Lord, thank you for my sweet Dia...."