drinking

Almond milk, that is. We are primarily a dairy milk drinking family. I do, however, purchase the occasional carton of soy, rice, or almond milk. Last year, I experimented with homemade rice milk--it was an unanimous flop. This week, I gave almond milk a try. After soaking the almonds in water overnight, I rinsed them and popped them into the blender with water (1:4 ratio). Next, I poured the milk into a fine mesh bag and squeezed until the milk had separated from the pulp (pictured below). Back into the blender for a spin with a few pitted dates and a splash of vanilla and we were treated to a creamy, flavorful, nutritious drink. We do prefer it chilled and it is crazy good in smoothies. It looks like this will become part of the weekly routine around here. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the pulp--dehydrated or incorporated into some baked good, perhaps?

this moment

this moment ~ a friday ritual ~ a single photo capturing
a moment from the week. inspired by SouleMama.

new favorite

I tried out a new granola recipe today: Nutty Coconut Blackstrap Granola. It is delicious--crunchy, not too sweet, and full of nutritious ingredients. Three of the four of us like it so I know that another batch is around the corner. I could eat this every morning.

this moment

this moment ~ a friday ritual ~ a single photo capturing
a moment from the week. inspired by SouleMama.

piiizzzaaa

With Logan helping, dinner is on the table in no time. And, of course, it's delicious!

budding paleontologist?

Owen woke up with one thing on his to-do list today: dig up a dinosaur!



With a little help from big brother, tiny pieces were chipped off and brushed away from the sand block in his Smithsonian Diggin' Up Dinosaur kit.



After rinsing off the rest of the dust, Owen assembled the skeletal remains into a recognizable creature--T-Rex! Raaarrrr!

this moment

this moment ~ a friday ritual ~ a single photo capturing
a moment from the week. inspired by SouleMama.

the holder

Logan participated in the Student Inventors Fair this week. All fourth graders were asked to identify a problem, invent a solution, and create a presentation to be displayed in the school lobby.

The Problem:
My problem is that my piano books never stay open when I'm trying to play out of them.

Materials:

• Three wooden Popsicle sticks
• Two eight-inch pieces of Pex tubing
• One thirteen-inch piece of Pex tubing
• Four five-inch pieces of Pex tubing
• Three PVC Tees
• One metal L-bracket
• One metal S-clip
• One large binder clip
• Three bolts
• Three small hex nuts

My Solution: The Holder
I created a wooden “arm” constructed out of Popsicle sticks that is attached to the thirteen-inch piece of Pex tubing with a screw. The Popsicle sticks are hooked to each other with a bolt and a hex nut and at the end of the last stick I drilled a hole and attached an L-bracket using another bolt. I used this L-bracket to hold up an S-clip, which I clamped shut using a needle-nosed pliers. On the other end of the S-clip I hooked on a large binder clip, which could clamp onto the pages of the book you choose to hold open. Then I pinched the other end of the S-clip shut as well.

this moment

this moment ~ a friday ritual ~ a single photo capturing
a moment from the week. inspired by SouleMama.

happy new year