How to Get Kids to Eat KALE!

No one ever really believes me when I say my kids eat kale, spinach and collards without gagging to death. Even my middle child, who generally does not eat anything green. Therefore, I have fully documented how to do it -- the secret is that you have them cook it!

First, they pick all the leaves off the stems. We get a really nice, prewashed, organic kale from our local CSA. I think you can also buy kale at the grocery store chopped in bags, in which case it would only need washing and drying. Don't skip the drying, it helps the oil and salt stick in the next step.

Next, the kids toss the kale with a little olive oil. Notice the parental hand helping the three-year-old with this step to avoid a flood.

Finally, sprinkle with salt. This batch got a little too much salt because I forgot to take a picture during the first sprinkling. Then, when Kaia posed with the salt a second time so I could take a picture, she accidentally dumped more salt on it.

I roast the kale in the oven at 425*, checking it and turning it every 5-6 minutes. It usually only takes 10-12 mintues total. The last picture is what it looks like at the first check, it wasn't quite crispy yet. It gets crispy and crunchy like potato chips, and the kids gobble it down. The kale is quite good, but I love spinach done this way the best.

Happiest girl in the world!

Look who has come to live with our sheep! She's a miniature horse named Darlin', she is from Grey Fox Farm and she's the sweetest little mare I've ever met. She happily follows Kaia around the yard on "tours" and doesn't mind the kids being led around on her back. Rowan loves her too, and can be heard shouting "I'm a cowboy! I'm a cowboy!" as he rides.

We have her on a foster program, we're not ready for a permanent horse yet. She'll stay with us until right before her baby is due in February, then go back to the farm to have the baby. I know the kids will be sad when she leaves, but I think that will be somewhat mitigated by the promise to go see the new baby.

I'm teaching Kaia to groom and about all the parts of the horse. This is a great lesson for our home education project!

Papa is home safe!

I'm a little late in blogging this, but my dad is home safe! He was in a war zone, working as a civilian, for the last six months. Much to everyone's relief, he chose not to stay a full twelve months. Do these kids look glad to see their Papa or what?

RIP Lightening...

It's been an eventful week. Poor baby ram. Raising sheep shouldn't be this hard. Lightening McQueen was dead last Thursday morning, the kids and I found him in the back part of our lot as we were leaving. I *really* couldn't do anything about him then, I left his body in the woods and called Wesley as we were pulling out of the driveway.

Me: "Um, honey? Lightening McQueen is dead."
Wes: "Huh?"
Me: "You know, Lightening, the ram. He's dead. He's in the woods. Do I just leave him there, or what?"
Wes: "But what else would you do with him? Maaaan, he's going to stink this afternoon."

Sorry friends, no pictures of this one. Lightening had a decent burial after Wes dug a very nice hole that afternoon. Thank goodness we got him in the ground before Tropical Storm Fay hit. Our back lot went from dry woods to swamp pretty quick. More on that, with pictures, later.

He's so clever

One of the things that makes being married to Wes both interesting and challenging are his contraptions and ideas. It's wonderful that he can create just about anything and solve many problems for me, but he frequently makes me nervous.

For instance, check out this setup. Wes says it's based on how the Egyptians moved stones for the pyramids. That's the kid's fort, and he's trying to get the clubhouse part back up on its legs. He's usually the only person working on these sorts of projects, so he has to find a ways to lift and move heavy pieces by himself. Wes is great with a lever, and has moved lots of things I thought were impossible for one person.

Here, he has the clubhouse counter-balanced with a 50 gallon drum of water. He tied it all up, then turned the hose on and had it on the legs in no time! He just has to put up with my worries -- what if the rope breaks? Don't let the kids near it! Careful! How are you going to make it stable? He says "Don't worry, it's fine." I guess we make a good pair, Odd Couple style.

And this, my friends, is how we mow the yard

Katahdin Hair Sheep. The kids named them. The one closest to the camera, with horns is "Cookiepie Sweetie Face," the youngest ewe. Behind her is her big sister "Marshmallow Christmastreecake Bouncy Girl," and the white one is a ram called "Lightening McQueen." Can you guess which child named which animal(s)?

Sew and Show - "Jayme" Tanks

I used the pattern for the "Jayme Dress" at Sewingmamas to make some new tank tops for Kaia. The largest size I could find in the downloads was a 4T, so I used the general shape of it to come up with a size 7.

My first attempt isn't shown here, as it was in the wash, but it wasn't a great fit. It gaped in the front and back, and the straps were waaay to long. I hacked a few inches out of the straps on that one to make it wearable, then modifed the pattern again. The shirts shown here have 1/2" taken from the center, then added back to the sides to keep the shirt from being too snug. 5 3/4" straps seem to be the right length to keep the shirt decent. None of them are getting hemmed, my theme here is "quick & easy," and it doesn't matter so much with knits anyway.

The shirt is a baby rib I think I got at Fabric.com ages ago, you can't see the print, but it's ballerina bunnies. Kaia loves it, she has a nightgown from it too. I used FOE (foldover elastic) for the straps. I promised she could do a special pose after one normal picture. :-)

And of course, Doug had to get in on the act!

Last two shirts have fabric straps, and I like the way these turned out too. I just hate ironing the binding strips, I manage to burn myself everytime I use the iron! I was talking to my friend Lisa as I finished them, and she reminded me that I have a gazillion iron-ons. So, they says "Flower Power" and "Chicks Rock." Kaia was tickled pink by the chicks shirt.