1. Me and my girl are still very indoorsy these days, as we got some fresh snow this week. We've been playing with her shape sorter, blowing bubbles, scribbling with markers, and wrestling. But it was very nice yesterday (40 degrees?) and we saw actually some mud. I told Grant last night that I'm starting to feel pretty ravenous for sunlight. In the photo, I'm wearing the necklace that I painted a little bit ago.
2. Hadley playing with her cousin Atticus, who is her first friend! They're 3 months apart and their mommies are so happy they're going to grow up together. They are getting to the age now where they want to greet each other when they meet up... last Sunday it was with a kiss. Precious!
3. These gluten free banana pancakes. I've been making them every Sunday night for supper this past month and we love them. Usually we have them with real maple syrup, butter, scrambled eggs, and sauerkraut.
4. Leftovers. My sister-in-law has been coming over (and bringing Atticus) for a playdate about once a week so we get to chat and have lunch together. More often than not, I make these roasted sweet potatoes when she comes over. We love them! Here's how:


5. Vacuum rides. Grant introduced Hadley to the idea of sitting on the vacuum while I use it. She loves to go grab a pen and paper and sit and "work" on top of the vacuum.
6. Going to see my sisters! (In the photo, from left to right: me, my little sister Chelsea, and my twin sister Haley) We have a little Easter break, so tomorrow morning we're headed down to Nebraska to see my family. We're going out to lunch with Mom, hanging out with the fam, visiting the Apple store, doing a Trader Joe's & Whole Foods run, and getting a haircut from my twin sister Haley! So excited. We love making the most of our time in a big city.

Hi guys! Just had to pop in one more time today to share this. I've been listening on and off to the Healthy Life Summit 2013. (It's hosted by Ann Marie from Cheeseslave.) If you are at all interested in food, healthy babies and kids, your body, healthy lifestyle/world, etc, you might love this. It's all streaming for free this week! Each day, there's a new handful of speakers on a bunch of interesting topics. For example, today you can learn about...

do-it-yourself butchering and charcuterie
grain-free eating + how to stock your kitchen
healing your hormones
baby food
childhood illnesses
losing weight
what's up with GMO's

Just wanted to let you know! In the words of my friend Katie (who is tuned into the Summit with me): Yay for free education!!

Hey!! Thanks to you guys who left those great Washington D.C. recommendations yesterday! You gave me so many things to google and put down on our list. They all sound really fun. If you think of any more, just keep them coming. I think we're just going to have to do everything. :) 

I'll tell you a secret: we never took took down the Christmas lights in our bedroom. They've been up all these weeks.. months. We just love plugging them in for a mellow light first thing in the morning. And of course, it's still very much winter here, so it does look a little Christmasy. And when I make my licorice spice tea, it even smells a little Christmasy. And I made pecan tassies last week to kick off the weekend, so now it even tastes like Christmas. Grant came home from work on Friday and ate half of the teeny pecan pies immediately. A pretty good sign. I never got around to making these traditional Christmas treats during the holidays this year, but I think I might like them even better in March. Now that I'm reminded of how delicious they are, I'm of the opinion that these incredible pie bites shouldn't be lost amongst other holiday goodies- they can stand on their own feet. They're sooooo good! Rich and nutty and slightly sweet. There's cream cheese in that crust, guys. I bet you can't eat just one.


I adapted my sister-in-law's good recipe to suit what ingredients I had on hand and to make them gluten-free. Let it be known: butter and cream cheese are rampant here, so these are not dairy free like a lot of my other desserts. Like this cake, or this cake, or these cookies, or these bars. Which are all gluten and dairy free.

1. Apples + almond butter. Favorite dessert to grab when I don't have anything baked. Hadley likes to split the apple with me, too.
2. Licorice Spice tea. My sister-in-law introduced me to this sweet and spicy, nectar-like tea last summer and I almost forgot how lovely it is. I don't even like licorice, but I'm a big fan of this.
3. Sometimes I pop Hadley into the dry tub for a couple minutes and she loves it. It frees my hands for a minute and she gets to be reunited with her bath toys- the lack of water never fazes her.
4. Having friends and their babies over to my house for lunch and conversation. Love those girls. I can't believe we're at the stage where lunch is trying to figure out how to eat, chat, and take care of our kids at the same time. (Our kids?!! I don't feel that grown-up yet!)
5. Oh boy! iMac upgrade. Grant was like a kid on Christmas morning. I'm writing this post from our brand new computer! Every key on the keyboard feels so snappy and new.
6. I bought this paintable wooden necklace from The Paperie. How charming is that? I'm going to love changing the colors whenever I feel like it.
7. New look for my shop! Speaking of which, I've been busy designing blog headers for a handful of people this week. I'll show you a peek next week.
8. Staying up late re-telling our dating story to each other. Digging up all of our old pre-dating communication. Being embarrassed about how ridiculous my half of the writing was.
9. Buying plane tickets!!! Yay! We're squeezing in a vacation before Hadley turns 2 and we'll have to start paying for her. :)
10. Friday came so fast! Happy Friday, guys. Have a great weekend.

Hey guys! Just wanted to share something good with you today. We love to eat fermented food (full of probiotics, like sauerkraut) at our house, but we also (even Hadley) take a probiotic supplement for gut and immune health. If you're shopping around for a probiotic supplement sometime soon, we've been taking this Organic 3 Gut Pro probiotic for about 8 months now and we love it! I love that this formula doesn't have any extra "stuff" in it, and we've really seen it go to work in our systems. No flu for us yet (thank you, Lord).

It's an investment in the beginning ($99 for a bottle), but you get 240 servings, so over time it's actually one of the best prices you can find for a really good quality probiotic. We're still on our first bottle, so that means it has cost us about $12.50 per month so far, and we aren't finished with it yet. I actually got the powder, instead of the capsules, because it's such a great deal. And that way all 3 of us can just dip in and get a spoonful- as small or as big as we need that day.

Yesterday the snow whipped around our windows all day. This morning, I looked out and the world was frozen- so still and sparkling. A blue sky and a backyard blanketed with with glittering hard snow. I don't know what it is about this March, but I'm really content with it. Loving the gray days, the blustery days, all of it. Like I mentioned last week, I'm not tired of the winter weather here in Minnesota and was excited to see more snow coming later in the week. (!!!) So thankful the Lord gives grace to outlast an average 5-6 month winter. Not that I won't be thrilled when it's sunny and 70.

I think this contentment is all part of a gift I've been given from the Lord recently. A season of peace. Quiet days at home, an abundance of time with my husband. Not all parts of the year are like this, and I'm stopping a minute to let it sink in.

This is awesome.

Thank you, Lord. This is from You.

To top it all off, I feel like dinner has been getting freshened up around here. We've found a few new favorites and this red curry over rice is one of them. I think we'll be having it at least once a week for awhile. It's made with delicious grass-fed beef, red curry paste, and soaked brown rice, and has just the right amount of mild heat- warm enough for us grown ups and not too spicy for Hadley. She loves it. Big thanks to my sweet friend Erin for her recipe, which she assures me is not authentic, but it's yummy! I know absolutely nothing about curry, but I'm learning that there's the Indian kind of curry and there's Thai kind of curry and this is Thai-ish. For you guys who know more than me, I think it might fall somewhere between panang curry and pad gra pow? Regardless, it's delicious and really fun (easy, just stand at the stove and stir one pan) to make.

This one's for her grandmas and my grandmas, who I hope might be reading today. A peek at this little lady, wearing her first ponytail.


Let's see.. what else can I tell you about her life nowadays?
She wakes up around 7 am and goes to bed around 7 pm.
She likes to take my hand and lead me to the kitchen.
She is very quiet (except around Mommy and Daddy), thoughtful, and careful.
If she sees an apple in the story we are reading, she runs to the fridge to get an apple for a snack.
She likes to wrestle with Daddy and laughs the hardest when he tackles her/her stuffed animals.
She'll be 21 months this week.
She is good at recognizing and matching letters.
She's practicing using a fork by herself.
She loves olives and pickles.
She gets excited to get her coat on, take a bath, go to the basement, grab her own bowl from the cupboard, paint at the big table, and hide from Daddy when he comes home from work.
She understands a lot of what we say and likes to join in when anyone else is laughing.
She likes to "dance," which usually involves spinning and pumping her fists.
Oh, and she loves to watch the first 10 minutes of the movie Sabrina, which was my favorite movie growing up. Like mother, like daughter.

From Anonymous:

Summer, would you do a post about how you take care of a baby, go to the gym, make healthy meals, keep your house clean, spend time with your husband and God, get reasonable amounts of sleep, and work on orders every day? My life is pretty simple, but I struggle to accomplish half those things (and my baby won't take a nap by himself so I can't get anything done then). I would LOVE your advice! -Anonymous

Dear Anonymous, The simplest answer is that I don't get all of those things done everyday. And whatever I do accomplish is by the grace of God, because I don't multi-task well and I am not a fast worker. Getting anything done with a baby in the house is a big deal. A super big deal. I know how you feel! Even though my baby is 20 months old, I still feel a surprised success every time Hadley and I are both clean, dressed, and fed.

After I thought about your question and the logistics of my day, here are a few things that came to mind. Some of them may not be useful to you, but will help you understand my day. Keep in mind that this is all just spilling out of my head- the head of a humble, sinful, young mom who has a lot to learn yet. I hope you come away from this post feeling encouraged, and comforted by the knowledge that I don't have it all together, because I don't. :)

1. Taking care of a baby. This is a full-time job. You cannot imagine or remember just how full-time it is until you are in it, but thinking about it any other way is just too hard on yourself. But I can tell you that each new phase will bring more (teeny) windows of time that you will discover without even realizing it. Some days, holding, nursing, and soothing your baby will be your whole day. It's terribly easy to think, All I did today was ___. But seriously, "all" you did today was an amazing task. Don't let the lie sink in that your day was not a success if that was all you did. I fought that lie constantly when Hadley was a newborn, and still do sometimes. I had to ask the Lord for courage and patience to be able to just sit (contentedly, not bitterly) on the couch and nurse or sit on a ball and bounce my baby instead of freaking out about the to-do list I was longing to tackle. When it's time to get into the kitchen, I tend to do a lot of things one-handed while I hold Hadley, and since she was a tiny newborn I've used the iPad to read my bible and other devotional books, make lists, and write emails while we nurse. Also, here's a practical suggestion from Hadley: we bought a season of Little Bear from iTunes and she loves it. I turn on a favorite video when she needs a distraction from teething or if I need to put something in the oven, etc. The iPad and appleTV are a huge help at this house.
2. Gym/Shop Orders. The biggest headway in my day is made in the afternoon, when my husband comes home. I rely on him. His homecoming changes the tone of everything in the house- having both parents around is the best design ever. Grant is a teacher, so he'll get home from work between 3:30 and 4. I love his job for so many reasons, this being one of the big ones. This pre-dinner time is when we are able to process orders, prepare things that need to be shipped, and go to the post office/bank/store. This is also when I go to the gym. A few times a week, all 3 of us will pile into the car and while Grant and Hadley run errands, I run on the treadmill. (My gym membership/insurance agreement requires me to make at least 12 visits to the gym each month, so this is another reason going to the gym actually gets done.) Note: I did not renew my gym membership until after Hadley's first birthday, because I simply didn't have the time or energy for working out during her first year.
3. Making healthy meals. After years of making changes to our groceries, we are at the point where we really have no choice but to make something good to eat. We also don't have a lot of options that are ready in a minute, so I have to plan ahead. Knowing that if I want to eat, I have to plan has made it a part of life that I just roll with. And if all else fails, there's always fried eggs. When the time comes for me to actually be at the stove making dinner, Hadley either plays in the kitchen drawers, watches a video, plays with Daddy, or plays a game on the iPad.
4. Cleaning/Quality Time/Sleep. I do quick cleaning tasks throughout the day with Hadley tagging along (picking up toys, switching laundry, vacuuming, sweeping), but the most efficient cleaning is done after dinner while she is busy playing-- it never fails that when Daddy is home, she becomes much more independent. It's a phenomenon I've heard other moms testify to as well. Hadley goes to bed shortly after dinner and then Grant and I like to fall into the middle of the couch together and either watch an episode of one of our shows or listen to a sermon together. Sometimes we'll just work on our computers though, or I will have some cleaning to do. There's usually a snack at some point and general hanging out/talking. Our house is tiny, so we're very much together all the time and that's the way we love it. We go to bed pretty early, because we can. (And because we've made a habit of it. Grant coaches basketball and has to get up wicked early for practices.)

My advice? It sounds like you are like me, and you really enjoy feeling useful and efficient. Every day you are probably feeling unsure about how successful your day was and feeling burdened by what was left undone. It won't always be like this. And if you are worrying about what you are not accomplishing- stop. Don't worry about anything! :) Try to enjoy this short phase as freely as you can. At the same time, I realize that certain things need to be done for a family to function. My best advice is to let your husband know what things you really wish you could get done and ask him if he could help you. So many of the things I accomplish daily are things that I have shared with Grant and he knows how important they are for me (doing the dishes right away after dinner), so he helps make them happen. This was something I had to learn over and over in Hadley's first year. I thought that since I was a stay-at-home mom I should be able to fulfill every responsibility I could think of that was household-related, and that was impossible. I was so humbled by this. Before I even realized what I needed, Grant was there, offering to help me. He wanted so much to come to my aid and for me to not feel burdened. Now if I could just learn to let him know what I needed! :)

Happy Friday, guys! What are you doing to get the weekend started? We are taking a big grocery trip when Grant gets home from work (we all go- it's like a family date), and tonight we're making cookies and watching a new-to-me Morgan Freeman movie.

This week I like...






Watercoloring with Hadley. On his way out to work a couple mornings ago, Grant said, "Do you think she'd be old enough to do like an art project or something?" And turns out she is. (It took some courgae for me to hand her that paint brush that first time, but we lined the table with newspaper and she's doing really well with it so far.) We now have a brand new activity for us to turn to during these still-staying-inside winter days. It was brilliant.

Sorting more 50 Promises memory cards. Thanks a million to everyone who has been buying them! It's been hard (and fun) trying to keep them in stock.

The 94 Second app. My sister-in-law texted me the other night and said I needed to get this game and that I would love it. She was right. It's like playing Scattergories against yourself. Grant and I sat and played as a team last night after Hadley went to bed and we couldn't stop. It's so addicting! Go to the app store and get it asap.

My first ever bouquet of daffodils. They look so March-y, don't they? We had our house appraised yesterday because we are re-financing and as we were walking around the house with the appraiser, I noticed these happy things waiting to surprise me. Thanks, Grant.

These deep dish cookies. We made them last Friday night and they're an effortless way to celebrate the start of a weekend. Super fast. And so many delish versions to pick from.

Buying a whole case of these.

It's been a good week. Hope yours was, too!

All things I've been doing/done lately and really enjoying March so far. The end-of-winter days are turning out to be awfully cozy here. And surprisingly, I still look at our weather forecast hoping to see snow in the coming days. Winter hasn't lost its luster for me yet, and I've still got a couple good blizzards in me.


This cake is meant for March. And by that I mean, it's cold and wet. And by that I mean, it's soaked with bright, sweet freshly-squeezed orange juice, mellowed with fragrant vanilla, and stored in the fridge, because that's where it is perfected. It's adapted from this grain-free version (coconut flour only) and my husband pronounced it "awesome."

You guys. There is a piano in my house. ahhhhhh! We finally bought one! Here are the piano movers (Daddy and Grandpa) with a future pianist? :) Actually, I used some of the proceeds from my little shop to help buy it, so you guys helped put this piano in my house. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Every print and card set you've ordered means a great deal to me. I'm so grateful. Picture me with tears of joy right now, while I hug your neck. You don't realize how much you'll miss having a piano in the house until you move away from your mom and dad's house and don't have one. I've already collected all my old music and started practicing again. Hopefully my sight-reading skills will get back to what they used to be. Oh, and I found some great sheet music apps, which I'll have to share soon.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy this little tune from one of my favorite musicals.

I haven't sat here at the desk since I wrote that post on Monday. (!!!) So I really wanted to stop in today, despite the fact that blogging on a Friday isn't my favorite. Not because I don't enjoy it, but because it feels so lonely and quiet. Am I the only one who feels this way? On Thursday night we were all as thick as thieves, but come Friday morning I always have this sense that we've detached. Like all of my friends are closing up shop and perhaps already signed off until Monday. Anyway, I'm the kind of person who likes to keep talking to you right up until you are out the door or even getting into your car, so here I am. Still talking to you. I'm so glad YOU are here and I'm not alone!

Here's the story of our week: we've been bombarded with snot. Hadley is being such a trooper while her baby immune system builds. At 20 months old, I guess it is about time she caught a real cold. I've mostly been stationed on the couch with her, doing a lot of nursing and Netflix while she sleeps. It hasn't been bad, but man! I have such respect for all of you moms taking care of sick kids. I had no idea. How do you get anything done?! It takes such constant attention, and even though I've been battling selfish thoughts the past few days (wishing I could be up getting my to-do list crossed off) I'm so grateful that I'm able to be home with her and soothe her like nobody else can.


Other non-sicky stuff happened this week, too.

1. Made Erin King's recipe for curry- my first time ever trying curry! It was so wonderful. Easy and fast and all in one pan. I'm dying to make it again and share the recipe with you guys, if it's okay with her. (You can find Erin writing over here at The Baraza. Erin was my best friend in elementary school and she moved away, and then I moved away, and somehow we reconnected in the blog world!! Isn't that so sweet? She is awesome.)

2. Juicing every. day. For 2 weeks now! We are loving it. I started juicing last year, but Grant has really gotten into it now and our juice has gotten way better since he joined.

3. Toast feels good on a throat that's on the verge of being sore. (Mine, yesterday.) We're enjoying some of this millet toast, which we bought as a treat. It's this stuff. We were able to snag one of the last loaves from the cooler that was fruit-sweetened. It looks like they're not doing that anymore. So disappointed.

4. Ordered yet another batch to keep the 50 Promises cards in stock. Wooohoo! I'm still blown away by this. Thanks for snatching them up, guys!

5. Collard greens are my favorite thing to add to this soup, instead of kale.

6. Family visit to the chiropractor. It felt so good.