Febs

We made cookies on Valentine's Day.

I am usually resistant to such activities--easily deterred by the potential for massive, chaotic, sugar-highed mess making.  This year, I got past that.  However I got totally stressed out in the "set-up" trying to preemptively mitigate potential frosting wars and sugar-sprinkle bombs all over the house.  Gonna have to work on that part because when we got to the actual decorating...we had a ton of fun!

The kids were so proud of their creations.  I was too.  And as a bonus, they were the best tasting sugar cookies we've ever made.

We made different colored frosting with gel food colors, which I love!  The gel is way prettier than the liquid food color.

I manned the baggies of frosting; they were in charge of designing and spreading and sprinkling.  The system seemed to work pretty well.

This is one of Elia's favorites.

Emerson's cookies were mostly pink.

Austin was most proud of this one.

The sheer brightness of it all was worth the mess. 

 And when they were done, I got to play with the leftovers....

Clarksville

I love our neighborhood.

We had no idea that when (by divine intervention) we were able to lease a space for Medici in Clarksville, we would come to love it so much.

It's rich in history, has nicely situated commerce, is full of fascinating neighbors, has two highly usable parks, and our very dear elementary school is tucked right inside.  And of course there's Medici smack dab in the center of all that. What's not to love?!

But we also had no idea that when (again by divine intervention) we bought our tiny little condo in Clarksville, we would grow to a family of seven.  What, seven?!  Still trips me out.

So now we are at a very interesting crossroads.  Five kids in this cozy 1000 sq. ft. just doesn't seem to be the plan, although we have done it quite happily with four. And I know millions of families around the world have more people and less space.  So I'm working hard not to have an attitude of entitlement based on our kid-per-square-foot ratio.

Bottom line is, my heart's desire is to move.

Options for moving within the neighborhood seem to be very limited.  But after a small freak out, I can now say I have total faith that the right place will come at just the right time.  But will that necessarily be in Clarksville?

I hope so.  There are so many treasurable memories to be made here...like these at Nau's Enfield Drug Store.

This place has been open since 1951.

Elia, her best buddies and the siblings got to drink milkshakes after school.  This is before the sugar rush, believe it or not.

Lauren is a reliably photogenic sweetie-pie.

Isabella, setting the tone.

Hannah, telling me to get out of her face with my camera.

Lauren's sister Kelsey and her mini-me.

Poor milkshake man.  He did more than his share of shaking this day.

Isabella's little sister and Austin's classmate, Andrea.

Bit-o-heaven.

More Vacay

All right, I've got to step it up a notch.  Life is moving on and I can't dwell in this vacation hangover much longer.  There is a LOT more to the Redwoods stuff, but I'm going to save those for another day when we all need a healthy dose of green.

Onwards to San Francisco!...

We drove to town that evening.  The kids took their first city bus ride down to Fisherman's Wharf.  We ate clam chowder in bread bowls because that is exactly what Michael and I did ten years ago when we honeymooned in San Fran.  It's the only place in the world where I find clam chowder tasty.

That black rock in the distance is Alcatraz.  I couldn't be bothered to hunt for a better angle for love of the chowder had consumed me, or rather, I it.  

A chilly and determined V-Force

We were in exactly this spot ten years ago.  Would have never imagined, back then, revisiting the city with four of our own little warriors in tow. 

Last tourist stop, Ghiradelli.  It was anti-climactic but tasty.

Ever the artist.  I love this girl.

And the most splenderific moment!  Michael and I had thus endured two weeks with no espresso.  Our dire need and greatest delight was a morning stop at Ritual Coffee.  If you need real deal coffee in San Fran, GO THERE.

An "aha!" Moment

I used to love to cook.  I used to love to cook, that is, before I had kids.

In college and as a newly wed I developed an appreciation for all things culinary.  I eagerly explored new foods, spent hours strolling the isles of "fancy" grocery stores, drooled over kitchen gadgets at Sonoma Williams, and most of all, took great pleasure in hosting dinner parties.

Back then.  Now, the mere thought of cooking dinner for my family can fill me with dread.  Apparently, I have lost the joy of cooking.  So this week I began asking why.

Why is it that my culinary joy has disintegrated into dutiful (and I'll admit it) occasionally resentful meal-making.  Why is it that I cringe when I hear my kids' inevitable question, "What's for dinner?"  And don't even get me started on, "What's for snack time?"  Oh! how the 'S' word simmers my brain.  The process feels like such a drain now: the planning, the shopping, the storing, the prepping, the cooking, the cleaning...YUCK!

Why is something that used to be a joy now a chore?  I interviewed myself:

Is not because you don't like food?
No, I really, really like food.

Is it because you don't value meal time?
Nope.  Table-time with the fam is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Is it because of the sheer constancy of feeding people day-in day-out?
Maybe.  That responsibility does become draining, but I've learned when to let myself order pizza        and take-out and whatnot.  That's not truly the joy-sucker for me.

Is it because you are continuously surrounded by at least three, usually four, little humans who tug and pull and interrupt, leave their toys in the kitchen, put their fingers in your bowls and generally make the cooking space ten times more chaotic with their eager-hungry presence?
Kind of.  But not really.

Here's the thing. One day this week a miracle happened: I cooked two meals at one time without being interrupted.  I have no idea what my kids were doing at the time.  I blatantly ignored them and chose to bliss-out chopping and stirring and wafting away. Blissed out by myself in the kitchen.  Those meals were made with love and joy and were all the more a pleasure to serve because of it.

It turns out, I'm an introvert.  I take great delight in being all "inner" with myself as I create a meal.  This is the "aha" part.  Cooking--whether it is a full blown gourmet meal or an elevenses snack--is a creative endeavor.  I have never named it like that before, but the truth of it is really liberating for me.  No matter how complex or simple, cooking requires creative energy and I have more pleasure exerting that energy when I have space to think, to create.

Now the question is, what do to with this new perspective?  How do I honor my need for introspective creative time in the kitchen while embracing the reality of my big-family/little-house lifestyle?  I definitely don't want the kitchen to be mysterious no-go zone where mom slaves away in culinary martyrdom.  Nor do I want my current free-for-all kitchen of chaos scenario.

I am sure there is a clever balance or strategic boundary setting approach out there.  I'll let you know when I find it!  If you relate to this, do you have any tricks?

Here we go...

It seems like this summer is all about adventures.

It has taken me a while to embrace the fact that summer in Austin requires a hefty dose of heat-tolerance and equal amounts of creativity.  Premeditated "heat strategies" and summer themes seem to help.  One year we did colors.  This summer my genius friend is doing words and cities.

Our family will have a pretty big adventure in July, but I'll get to that later.  We started the summer with a little flavor journey to Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls.  I adore this place, truly adore it.  It is a family run operation, with endearingly family-friendly amenities and is surprisingly, refreshingly peaceful.  Oh, and of course TASTY!

Off to the fields!

Hannah didn't really "pick" berries; she mostly just sat among the rows and feasted!

We arrived at the end of the season, so the berries were small but still super juicy delicious!

They have lots and lots of goats to pet.  Hannah was enthralled with them.

Austin too.

Elia won the award for smallest berry...

and best toe-touch.

These "jumpy bubbles" are a new addition.  And this is what I love about Sweet Berry Farms: every year we go back and they have added some new feature to enhance the "farm" experience (as if that wasn't enough)!  These folks care for their land and care greatly that their visitors enjoy the experience.  I really, really appreciate that.